


Part #1: Aboard the KCS Ambition

by snibnoom



Series: End of an Orbit [2]
Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, M/M, Science Fiction, it's a space fic that takes place in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 17:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 44,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14982191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snibnoom/pseuds/snibnoom
Summary: Several members of the crew aboard the KCS Ambition have a secret that could destroy their lives as they know it if it got out. Despite the high risk, however, they all decided their normal lives were worth abandoning if it meant exposing the shady deals and programs the Kyklos Syndicate has been orchestrating for over a century. Between traveling the universe a dozen light-years from home, keeping the secret from the rest of the crew, and keeping those around them safe, the lives of the captain, second-in-command, and first pilot won’t be easy.





	1. Dione Station

**Author's Note:**

> If you really want to get the full story of this fic, you should check out [vonseal's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vonseal) part after you read this!

The ship shakes as Sanha sets it down on the platform of the landing dock. This stop on Dione Station is the sixth stop their crew has made in three months, as per their schedule assigned by the Kyklos Syndicate. The ship shifts as the landing gear locks into place. It’s an old ship, repurposed from the time before Kyklos became the company it is today. Bin is sure it’s at least a century old, maybe older. Bits and pieces have been replaced over time. The ship stops moving and Bin releases the two straps across his chest and sprints to the ladder just beyond the bridge before Sanha or Jinwoo have given the all clear.

 

“Wait for the signal,” Jinwoo reprimands.

“No point in running!” Suyeon calls. “You can’t use the CTL until I get up there!”

Bin rolls his eyes, continuing up the ladder. He climbs with clammy hands, maybe from the heat of the poorly ventilated ship but more likely because of the nervousness swirling beneath his skin. It’s been almost a week since he’s last talked to Dongmin back on Mars, one of his closest friends beyond those aboard their ship, the Kyklos Cargo Ship  _ Ambition _ (or, for short, the  _ Ambition _ ). As much as Bin tries to push any other thoughts out of his head, however, he never can seem to be successful. He shouldn’t have kissed Dongmin before he left the surface of their home planet three months ago. Kissing Dongmin had been a poor decision. Kissing Dongmin has led to countless restless nights and more than once having to resist telling Dongmin how pretty he is during their CTL contact.

As suspected, Bin arrives at the pair of rooms long before Suyeon does. It gives him enough time to pull the few storage boxes out, because what else should empty rooms be used for except storage? For the communication to run as intended, though, he needs the room to be empty. He stacks the boxes against the far metal wall of the thin hall and he waits.

And he waits.

What would Dongmin be doing now? Bin imagines the way the sky looked from the surface of Mars and how different it would look from the sky he’s below right now. Even having almost two dozen light-years of distance between them isn’t enough to keep Bin from thinking about Dongmin. His heart aches with the memory of their first meeting.

He shouldn’t have been there. Myungjun had already told them he was planning to go to a later party thrown by Mr. Lee for the Kyklos employees, yet Bin had gone anyway. He gave drinks to everybody he spoke to, hoping the alcohol would lower their inhibitions, hoping he would find information worth having gone against his new captain’s orders. And then he’d seen Dongmin.

Bin hadn’t known what to think at first. He recognized Dongmin, of course. He’d seen Mr. Lee more than once during his training, and more since he’d been appointed as second-in-command of a ship in the cargo sector of which Mr. Lee was in charge. It was hard to not know who Dongmin was, as Mr. Lee constantly brought him up in conversation. Bin was fairly certain he’d seen Dongmin around the company before, too, at the larger company events held at Kyklos headquarters, usually tacked onto his father’s side. Though he’d approached Dongmin with the intention of trying to weasel his way into information, he’d abandoned his goal within minutes. Dongmin was charming and humble. His polite laugh was contagious in the best way. He was handsome and kind. Bin had only been on Mars for a little longer than a month after the party, departing far too soon for their fledgling relationship to develop into much of anything at all.

When the humming of the ship is interrupted by footsteps, Bin shoves his thoughts into a corner of his mind and springs to his feet. He doesn’t take offense to the small scoff Suyeon lets out when noticing his head sticking through the doorway.

“You’ve been up here since we landed?” Suyeon asks.

“Yup.”

Bin watches Suyeon pull the computer screen away from the wall on its bendable arm. The computer beeps with each press of her fingers and the nerves in his gut grow.

“If I didn’t know better,” Suyeon says, “I’d think you and this boy you keep talking to were dating.”

Bin laughs, but the sound is strained when coming out. “Dating? No way. We’re just friends. I mean, we’re also from the same place. He lets me know how things are going, checks on my family.”

Suyeon shakes her head and speaks again. “Don’t think I’m going to let you lead some poor boy on if I can stop it. You better treat him right, or—”

Bin groans. “Just set it up, would you?”

Suyeon mutters under her breath, and Bin swears it sounds like “if you weren’t second in command.” It doesn’t matter, though, as the familiar wiring of the CTL system begins. Bin bumps Suyeon out of the way with his hip, tapping in the ID of one Lee Dongmin on Mars with a blur of fingers that causes him to mistype several times. Before he can be judged (though he knows he will be once he exits the room anyway), Bin slides into the CTL room and shuts the door behind him.

“ _ Recognition system activated. Scanning room. _ ”

The female voice falls quiet and Bin waits with a suppressed smile as the machine does its work. To be honest, Bin isn’t sure how it works. He knows CTL stands for communication-transmission by light, and he knows there’s a sort of satellite system for it, but his knowledge ends there. There’s a reason Bin isn’t an engineer.

“Connection accepted. Broadcast beginning.”

Bin takes a step to his right, sinking to the floor and folding his legs in front of him. It takes a moment, but the lasers converge on one spot across the black line which separates the room in half and Dongmin appears as a hologram, in the room but not present.

“Bin!” Dongmin says, laughing. “I was starting to wonder if your ship’s CTL worked anymore.”

Bin scoffs, leaning back on his hands. “You could’ve reached out to me first.”

Dongmin sighs, squatting first then sitting with his legs crossed. “You know I don’t call first. What if I try to set up a broadcast and you’ve gotten off on a station? Where are you now, anyway?”

“Gliese System. Dione Station actually, orbiting Leda.”

Dongmin’s brows rise as if yanked by strings. “All the way out there? What in the— Why would Kyklos send you that far?”

“Uh, well—”

Bin stops himself before he can share information he isn’t supposed to. They shouldn’t be here. The Kyklos Syndicate, the largest corporation in the universe, has a lot of business to attend to. Bin, Sanha, Suyeon, Jinwoo, all of their crew, they work for Kyklos. Their normal business consists of transporting goods from one planet to another or from one company headquarters to a branch office. What they do makes up a small part of the many companies and enterprises Kyklos are involved in. The organization’s unofficial business is the reason Bin is here with his crew, several planets away from where they’re supposed to be. Bin can’t tell Dongmin the truth about Kyklos’ underhanded projects given Dongmin’s father’s position among the Kyklos Syndicate, though, so he lies. He lies like he has before and like he will continue to do, especially if it means Dongmin will stay safe at home on Mars.

“Routine pick up,” Bin says, “We’re low on fuel, and food, too. It’s Hyunseo, he eats like he’s at a buffet every meal.”

Dongmin laughs, tilting his head back and his mouth wide. Bin’s heart clenches and sinks, but he can’t take action to fix the way his heart is dragged down when he talks with Dongmin. He may never get to fix their relationship in any capacity if he gets caught doing what he does with Jinwoo and the others. He has to be careful.

“It’s a shame we don’t get to talk more,” Dongmin says. He leans forward, elbows on his knees. Static appears at the edge of Dongmin’s shoulder, reminding Bin of their situation.

“Yeah,” Bin sighs. “Kyklos has us running all types of errands, though. Probably won’t get to stop back home for another six months.”

Dongmin glances down. “Six months?”

“Six months. Maybe more, depending on how things go with scheduling. We can only stop for one crew member at a time, and Jinwoo’s lined up for visitation next.”

“That’s a long time.”

Bin meets Dongmin’s eyes when he looks up, and in that glance there are thousands of words they will never speak. If he hadn’t gone to the stupid party, if he had listened to Jinwoo and Myungjun, he wouldn’t be caught in this almost-relationship with a thousand questions filling his mind at any given time.

“I wish I could come back sooner,” Bin admits, grinning. “Nothing quite like the weather on Mars, ya know.”

“I’ll wait until you’re back.”

Bin blinks. “What?”

“I said I’ll wait until you’re back.” Dongmin scoots forward, his sock-covered toes glitching in and out of existence from poking over the barrier of what the lasers can make appear. “I feel like this could’ve worked if you didn’t leave, so I’ll wait until you’re back to see if we can make this work.”

“If you’d asked me to stay, I would’ve.”

The words escape Bin before he thinks about them, but he doesn’t regret them. The simple fact is if Dongmin asked Bin to stay, he would’ve said yes in a heartbeat. Despite what he’d learned about Kyklos by that point, he would’ve done it.

“You don’t mean that,” Dongmin says, leaning back with a scoff. “You can’t mean that.”

Dongmin is right, mostly. In their given situation, and given what he’s learned since leaving, Bin wouldn’t stay. Dongmin, of course, has no idea what Bin knows. In the last three months, Bin has learned more about the dark side of Kyklos than he wished to know. Their real-estate project houses crime lords and smugglers. The non-recognized moons they have control over have been turned into labor camps. Nobody worth listening to would speak against it, either, since Kyklos is paying those who could speak up to stay quiet.

“If you asked me then, when I was on Mars, I would’ve stayed.”

There’s a quick knock on the CTL room door before it opens. Minhyuk’s head pops in. He doesn’t greet Dongmin, instead focusing only on Bin.

“We’re leaving now,” Minhyuk says. “If you want to see the station, we gotta go.”

Bin glances at Dongmin then back to Minhyuk. “Tell Sookyung five minutes.”

“But—”

“Tell her, as second in command, I need five minutes.”

Minhyuk snorts. “Alright, boss. See ya on the ground.”

The door shuts, and Bin returns his attention to Dongmin with an apologetic smile. “Guess that’s my cue. Some timing my crew has, huh?”

Dongmin smiles. “It’s okay. Do what you need to for Kyklos. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’ll call as soon as I can manage,” Bin promises as he stands.

At Dongmin’s nod, Bin sighs. “Monitor,” Bin says, a bit louder, addressing the CTL system, “end broadcast.”

Dongmin waves and fizzes out of existence. Bin stands alone for a moment before stepping into the hall. He taps on the small screen to turn off the CTL machines, waiting for the buzzing above the door to stop before he heads through the hall, down the ladder, and out of their small ship onto the station.

Bin walks side by side with Sookyung down the landing dock hall and into the noisy area that is the dock-level communal area. Small shops occupy corners and the walkways, locals and travelers alike arguing with merchants over the prices of items and whether the currency conversions are correct. Bin has been on countless stations, but each one is a little different, just as each moon and each planet is a little different.

“Bin!”

Taller than those near him, Bin is able to glance over the crowd of heads with ease to spot Sanha’s thin arm waving in the air. Sanha is immediately recognizable for not only his height but by the royal blue sleeve of his Kyklos-issued uniform jacket. After turning to see if Sookyung has in fact run off to a shop (she has), Bin makes his way through the crowd to Sanha, spotting Minhyuk and Jinwoo once he’s closer.

“You know how to spot them,” Jinwoo says in a faint voice. He hands them each a cloth bag, a normal bag for their shopping. “Hit your targets and be careful.”

Bin nods, and they disperse. This is the real reason for their stop at Dione Station. Leda, the second planet from the Gliese System’s star, is one of many planets enslaved by Kyklos. The people born there never leave, or at least they hadn’t until Dione Station was established and they were allowed to work on the station. Riots and revolts are common on Leda. It isn’t a small planet, and its population can rival the smaller cities on Mars. Dione Station is the perfect place to exchange information with others from the anti-Kyklos movement, the bustling activity distraction enough from their illegal deals.

Bin scans the shops before walking in the opposite direction of the others. He keeps his head low, eyes focused on the goods displayed in the stalls. Their targets, the shopkeepers, are allies, permanent residents of Leda or the station. Bin carefully but casually inspects the wrists of the nearest shopkeeper.

“They wear a blue cuff on one wrist,” Jinwoo had said several days ago in the quiet of his quarters after the rest of their crew had gone to bed. “Right or left, it doesn’t matter. And you ask them if they carry acorns.”

Sanha had immediately laughed. Minhyuk promptly elbowed him, reminding him they should be quiet or risk waking the other members of their crew.

“They’ll say no, but they’ll offer you something else. You will need to pay for it, to keep up the normality of the exchange, but it’ll have hidden information we need to pass on or act on. Do we all understand?” They had all confirmed.

Bin does that now, searching for a blue cuff on every wrist. He comes to the first at the third stall from the landing dock entrance, an older woman with her hair tied in a tight bun. Bin spends his time inspecting her items until only he and two others remain at the booth.

“Excuse me,” Bin asks, leaning forward. “Do you carry acorns?”

There’s a glint in the woman’s eye, and she smiles. “I’m sorry, boy, I don’t. I do have something else that might interest you, however.”

The woman bends over, groaning as she does, and returns a moment later with a small jar of honey in her hand. “The best of my personal bee colony on Leda,” she says. “Would you like it?”

“Of course.” Bin reaches into his jacket for his wallet. “How much will it be?”

“Six credits, dear.”

Bin suppresses his urge to scoff. Six credits for a jar of honey?  _ I’m being robbed. _ He fishes the bills out of his wallet anyway, handing them over.

“Let me package this for you, sweetie.”

Bin waits patiently, watching the woman with a trained eye. He hadn’t noticed an item or paper swimming in the honey, but it wouldn’t be the first time the information had been passed unconventionally. He takes the jar and places it in his bag, thanks the woman, then continues through the shops. There are two others he meets. One is a girl younger than himself. She gives him a loaf of homemade bread, which Bin carefully adds to his bag. The second is a man not quite old enough to be Bin’s father. His booth is stacked with all sorts of hand-crafted toys, and Bin buys two, one for the information and the other for himself. Bin buys a few things between as well, picking out supplies he knows their ship needs, adding salt and extra soap into his bag. When Bin passes Minhyuk, he pauses before turning and joining him, matching his pace.

“Find everything you needed?” Bin asks, shouldering past several young girls.

Minhyuk nods once. “Yeah. Feels like I got cheated out of some money, though.”

Bin laughs. “Me too, man.”

Jinwoo and Sanha join them fifteen minutes later.

“Ready to head back?” Jinwoo asks. “The others should be back on the ship by now.”

“Not so fast.”

The speaker is a portly man standing behind Jinwoo, who turns around when the man speaks. At the sight of two other heavy set men behind the first, Bin’s body tenses.

“So,” the man says, “you work for the Kyklos Syndicate. You’re brave enough to show your faces around here?”

Bin grabs Jinwoo’s arm, but the damage has already been done.

Jinwoo scoffs. “Go to hell. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man pushes Jinwoo by his shoulders, sending him stumbling backwards and right into Sanha. “What did you say to me?” the man shouts.

“I said—”

Bin tugs on the arm of Jinwoo’s jacket harshly, catching his attention. “They’re too big,” he hisses. “We have to run.”

Jinwoo looks at Bin, a smirk growing on his face. He winks, and Bin knows they’re in trouble. As Jinwoo returns his attention to the burly men, ignoring the crowd gathering around them, Bin digs his nails into his palm in anticipation.

“I said,” Jinwoo repeats, “go to hell.”

The men lunge forward, reaching for whoever is closest. Bin dives backwards, knocking into a shop. It’s too busy and too crowded to see if anybody got hit, though he does see Minhyuk squat to avoid a punch. The crowd plays to their advantage. Each of them has been trained for situations like this by Kyklos, who are more than aware that people get hostile with their employees. They make it back to their ship without too much trouble, thankfully, though Bin hit several people with his bag on the way.

Bin slides to a stop in the bridge, strapping himself into the nearest seat. “Everybody, buckle in, now!” Jinwoo barks. “Sanha, get this ship ready to fly. Soo, headcount!”

Bin secures his bag of goods in the row of lockers outside the bridge. He bumps elbows with Sebin as they buckle into the seats closest to the door. The men were large, but they were also slow. They’ll get away without having to worry about the men too much. Unfortunately, as strangers on this station, they could be held accountable for disruption of peace, disorderly conduct, and a number of other offenses. If the incident was reported and Kyklos bothered to look at it, it was important for their ship to be as far away as possible as quickly as possible. They couldn’t get caught being where they’re not supposed to be.

“All accounted for, sir!” Sookyung says, buckling into the secondary flight seat beside Sanha.

“Sanha,” Jinwoo says, followed by the click of a buckle. “Tell me we’re ready to go.”

“We’re good to go, but—”

“Then go!”

Their take-off is rough, and Bin swears he hears the slice of their ship against the upper edge of the station’s landing dock. The minutes following their departure are rough, as usual, before their flight evens out thanks to Sanha’s skilled handling. Sanha flips several switches on the console before him before he gives the go-ahead for them to move safely out of their seats. Bin unbuckles and gathers his shopping bag, heading to Jinwoo’s quarters on the second floor. It takes several minutes for the other three to join him, and when they do, Bin gestures wildly at the bag.

“We almost got beat up by some people we’re trying to help,” Bin complains. “Why are we working for Kyklos?”

“Keep your voice down,” Jinwoo hisses. “I know it’s not the best, but—”

Bin scoffs. “Not the best?” Perhaps it was the conversation with Dongmin earlier, the idea of what could have been if he hadn’t gotten so invested in what Kyklos was doing wrong, but Bin suddenly wants to abandon all they’ve done thus far and return to Mars. He can’t, though, and he knows that. Bin flops on the bed beside the assortment of items and dug through them to find the honey.

“You bought honey?” Sanha asks as Bin unfolds the papers wrapped around the jar.

Bin shakes his head. “I didn’t buy it. It was from one of the targets, but it doesn't look like it has anything.”

Bin unscrews the lid, peering into the honey.

“The lid,” Jinwoo advises.

Stuck to the lid is a piece of paper that’s been folded into a square. Bin sets the jar to the side to pry the paper off the lid. As he rushes to unfold it, the other three gather around behind and beside him.

“Is that—”

“Coordinates,” Bin confirms, “on Atlas.”

 

Jinwoo snatches the paper from his fingers. “We’re in the area. I need to get MJ to see what he can find out.”

Bin smiles at Jinwoo’s excitement. His feelings were wrong, and he knows it now. He belongs out here, caught among the stars and working to right the wrongs of the world. It isn’t going to be easy, but he won’t give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super excited to finally have this fic up! This series is going to be a wild ride and there is a _ton_ in store. Leave some comments and let me know what you thought of this first chapter!
> 
> Make sure you check out [vonseal's first chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981921/chapters/34721237) to see the other half of the story!
> 
> And, of course, you can catch me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/snibwrites) if you want to chat!


	2. Gliese System

Jinwoo and Bin spend the next ten minutes scooping up their finds and deciding which missions they can take and which they should pass on. There’s a second copy of the coordinates on Atlas stuck within the pages of a book, solidifying Jinwoo’s hope for the project. They could take it on. Bin sorts the various bits of paper into two piles, reminding Jinwoo of their schedule for the next month and making sure they keep those for themselves. The rest they’ll pass on at their next meeting.

Their pleasant mood doesn’t last forever, though. Minhyuk appears in the door of his quarters, the wrinkle between the younger’s brows sucking Jinwoo out of his giddy mood and into Captain Mode. There’s a time and place for celebration, and this apparently isn’t it.

“We have an issue. It’s the fuel. You should come down here.”

Jinwoo tells Bin to stash the papers safely, knowing he will, before following Minhyuk down the ladder and to the bridge. With the dark sky beyond the large window staring back at them, Jinwoo is reminded of the real reason he was always drawn to the stars. His older brother used to take him to the roof of their building on Juno in the few hours of dim light to let him look at the stars. No matter how many times Jinwoo sees the view from the bridge or any of the small windows through their ship, he’s always captured by the view.

“Fuel, Jinwoo,” Minhyuk says, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Jinwoo leans over the chair Minhyuk sits in, Sanha beside him, and stares at the gauge on the monitor. Their fuel levels are clearly low. Tanks one and two are depleted with only a small amount remaining in their third primary tank and whatever is in the reserve tank, which has had a broken meter for a month. Jinwoo isn’t a good judge of how far fuel can stretch, but maybe they could reach Atlas? Jinwoo doesn’t want to land on another moon or planet or station. More stops lead to more suspicion. If Kyklos learned they were making unnecessary stops, they would be investigated or grounded on the nearest controlled planet until further notice.

“How bad is it?” Jinwoo asks.

Minhyuk taps the desk in front of the monitor in thought before craning his neck to look at Jinwoo. “We’re screwed.”

As Jinwoo groans, Sanha rushes to placate him.

“It’s not that bad!” Sanha says, a cautious smile on his lips. “When I was getting my hours, I used to ride the ships to empty and I was still able to make a safe landing on just fumes.”

“It’s nowhere near enough for us to get to Atlas.” Minhyuk drums his fingers on the desk. “We’d have to be in flight for four days if the _ Ambition _ traveled at normal speeds, which it doesn’t. We’re looking more at five and a half or six.”

“What about EHT?” Jinwoo knows it’s a stretch, but he has to hope. “We’d get to Atlas in, what, a day and a half?”

“We only have enough fuel for twelve hours in EHT.” Sanha pats Jinwoo’s shoulder gently. “A stop would be okay, right? Especially if we report what happened on the station—”

“We can’t report it.”

Jinwoo straightens and turns to face Bin behind him. He leans against the open door of the bridge, one of their many assorted granola bars half unwrapped and missing one bite in his hand.

“Kyklos will probably ignore the reports from Dione Station,” Bin continues, “especially since they have no proof we were there once we wipe the travel data.”

“Not so loud,” Jinwoo snaps, peering beyond Bin to see into the hall outside the bridge.

Bin waves his empty hand. “Don’t worry. Everybody is doing other stuff, inventory and settling our new stuff where it belongs.” He takes a large bite of the granola bar, speaking through the food in his mouth. “I think Soeun went to check on our cargo, but that’s not important. What’s important is we can’t report it because of the consequences”

“What consequences?” Sanha asks. “We didn’t do anything.”

“Destruction of property, disturbance of peace, disorderly conduct.” Bin ticks off each offence by raising a finger. “Plus, we’d get investigated or grounded for even docking at Dione Station in the first place.”

Jinwoo sighs, pushing his hair off his forehead. He knows Bin is right. Bin is always right. He’d studied to be with the intersystem police force before he decided to join Kyklos. He knew the laws better than anybody. There was a reason Bin was his second in command.

“Okay.” Jinwoo sets his hands on his hips, turning to face Minhyuk and Sanha again. “How long do we have on our current fuel? Can we make a jump to anywhere?”

Sanha sits on the table, glancing at the monitor before sharing a look with Minhyuk for a brief moment. “We can’t go anywhere with what’s in tank three,” Sanha says, “but we could reach the moons of Zeus if there’s even half of our reserve tank.”

Jinwoo knows there are two options at this point. Option one is to risk the EHT travel to the moons of Zeus and possibly get stranded and kicked out of EHT (which is always an unpleasant experience). They could make it, or they could get stranded on the way. Option two is to call for help right now without trying first. They’ll be investigated, as they aren’t supposed to be anywhere near Dione Station, and grounded until further notice.

“Alright,” Jinwoo sighs. “Get Soeun to plot our course, shortest route possible. Sanha, prep the EHT drives. I’ve gotta talk to MJ.”

“I’ll get Suyeon,” Minhyuk says, rising from his chair.

Jinwoo shakes his head. “She keeps the CTL running. She doesn’t have to operate it every time. It’s probably best if she’s not there to monitor, understand?” There are certain communications the rest of their crew can’t be privy to. Myungjun has nothing to do with their crew but he is high in the intelligence ladder of Kyklos. It would raise Suyeon’s suspicions at least.

Bin sighs. “I’ve got her, don’t worry.”

Jinwoo nods once, firmly, then heads up the ladder once again. The longest Bin has ever been able to distract Suyeon successfully was about twenty minutes. Jinwoo supposes he has about that long to contact Myungjun and share what they’ve learned and be updated on what Myungjun might’ve discovered since they last spoke.

Myungjun’s role is key, not only with his job at Kyklos, but for the fight against Kyklos as well. Jinwoo can imagine the look on Myungjun’s face when he finds out how much they’ve gathered to act against Kyklos on. He’d smile his wide smile, and his eyes would light up. He’d laugh too, filling the room with happy energy. Myungjun’s happiness would flood through Jinwoo, too, as it always has.

Jinwoo stops outside the CTL rooms, swiping on his watch to his list of clocks. It was late on Mars now. Would Myungjun be asleep already? Jinwoo didn’t want to wake him if he was, but this can’t wait. He pulled the computer screen out of the wall beside the room and quickly booted up the system. Eighteen minutes before Suyeon possibly came to the CTL rooms. As the system whirred to life and Jinwoo waited for his communication to be accepted—or rejected, possibly, if Myungjun was deep in dream land—his stomach swirled. While it was necessary for him to contact Myungjun regularly for business, their talks often stray away from topics related to the Kyklos Syndicate. Once or twice they’d each nearly confessed feelings that shouldn’t be confessed when they were over a dozen light-years away.

Jinwoo’s anxiety subsides when the lasers on the other half of the room flicker, pulling Myungjun into focus. He stands closer to the far wall, close to the door of what was his own isolated CTL room back on Mars. Jinwoo is much closer to the line separating them, his hands behind his back. He’s too eager.

“Myungjun, hey!” Jinwoo greets with a smile.

Myungjun’s smile mirrors his own, but it’s more—just  _ more _ . More happy, more excited, more everything. Jinwoo likes Myungjun’s  _ more  _ smile.

“Don’t you think it’s a little late, Captain?” Myungjun asks, a teasing lilt to his voice. “What would you have done if I was asleep?” He pauses. “This isn’t a booty call, is it?”

Jinwoo stammers, all his composure disintegrating on the spot. “It is  _ not _ ,” Jinwoo laughs. “I am glad you’re still awake, though. It’s important, but I only have about fifteen minutes. Bin’s keeping our communications officer occupied, but she’ll be here soon enough. She always checks in before she sleeps.”

The holographic Myungjun across from him sinks slightly. “Pity. You guys are off Dione Station, I’m guessing?”

Jinwoo nods, tucking his hands into his pants. “Yeah, but we just barely got off. It’s right by Leda, so some people were pretty upset to see Kyklos workers there. Could’ve gotten off easy if the rest of our crew wasn’t there, but they were. We didn’t get enough fuel so we’re heading to a moon to refuel and maybe—finally—get our reserve tank gauge fixed. We’ll head to Atlas after.” They don’t have much time. It’s a shame there isn’t more time. There’s never enough time for him to talk to Myungjun. He has no business talking to Myungjun. It’s not as easy for people to look beyond the fact of Myungjun’s status as it is for people to forget who Dongmin is when Bin calls him.

 

Myungjun’s demeanor shifts, and Jinwoo knows why before Myungjun speaks. There’s a hint of hope in his eyes, though it’s mostly shrouded. Myungjun has gotten too good at disguising himself. “To Atlas, huh? And stopping at a moon along the way?”

“Not Helen,” Jinwoo admits, ducking his head.

Myungjun’s parents live on Helen, one of the moons enslaved by Kyklos, a poorly kept and dangerous factory planet. When Jinwoo first met Myungjun, he’d only seen the surface. He got to know Myungjun as anybody else would get to know someone. He learned where Myungjun had come from in the middle of a dust storm on Mars. He’d learned the way Myungjun had grown up, and how he’d left his parents behind after promising to help liberate them. Myungjun is the reason Jinwoo is doing any of this work against Kyklos in the first place.

“It’s too far for us,” Jinwoo continues after a moment. “I’m sorry, Junnie. I wish I could check in on your parents, but the crew—the others would be suspicious. I can’t risk it.”

Myungjun straights his shoulders, nodding, but Jinwoo notices the redness rimming his eyes. “I understand. Where are you going instead? Ida, Hera?”

“Yeah, Hera. Most of the information we got from Dione Station pointed towards Atlas, though we were just given coordinates. I was hoping you could fill in the blanks. Please tell me you know what’s important on Atlas.”

Myungjun sags again, running a hand through his hair this time. “I don’t have my files available, they lock at closing. You should’ve gotten me during the day.”

Jinwoo swears in his head. They can’t take much more time outside of their regular schedule, but it isn’t Myungjun’s fault their schedule is tight. “I was too busy running away from a band of lunatics.”

A short silence falls between them, and Jinwoo takes the quiet moment to look Myungjun over. It hasn’t been terribly long since he’s seen him, but it’s as if a decade more passes between every conversation they have. Myungjun is barefoot, his long pajama pants pooling around his ankles.

“At least your pajamas are cute.”

Myungjun perks up at the compliment, pulling the bottom of his shirt away from his waist to inspect it. “They are, right? I don’t know if the CTL catches it, but there’s mice on them. It made me think of you.”

Jinwoo scoffs. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”

“You’ll have to guess.” Myungjun smirks, though his expression changes quickly after. “Wait, Atlas! There’s a Kyklos employee hidden there, someone from intelligence. I got to meet him a few times, though we didn’t exactly work together. He’s very loyal to Kyklos and what they do.”

Jinwoo’s brows furrow. “If he worked in intelligence he must’ve known the sort of business Kyklos gets up to, right?”

“Well.” Myungjun huffs, scratching his arm absently. “We all know, but some people don’t care. It’s usually the ones sitting pretty in their corner offices. It doesn’t affect them. Why would they try to stop it?” Jinwoo watches Myungjun’s eyes fade out of focus, his thoughts distracted by a much harsher line of thinking for a moment before he snaps back to the present moment.

“Anyway, this guy, Cho Minsoo, was at a bar and someone from one of the media outlets kept sending him drinks. He’s got loose lips, so he spilled what was going on the moment they asked. He talked about the information on some pretty heavily secured documents. I think he might’ve mentioned the real-estate program on Europa, too. The media was all over it.” Myungjun paused, shaking his head. “You should’ve seen the headlines, Jinwoo. For these media outlets to run issues with such brazen titles— I thought Kyklos was going to act against them. They didn’t, though, but all the files are deleted. I tried accessing them, but they’re gone no matter what programs or computers I try to get in through. Maybe I don’t have high enough clearance anymore, I don’t know. He’s an idiot, though. The media contacted him for a statement and he said the documents don’t exist, which caused the mess to just get bigger because Kyklos has to have records for everything. This went on for several  _ days _ , Jinnie. The tabloids were outrageous. Kyklos staged his death. The media is all over that. Now he’s living on Atlas. I don’t know anything else, though. All the documents related to him have been locked, but I bet the coordinates you got are where he’s staying. There’s some pretty savvy hackers out there. Wish they’d teach me to do what they do.”

Jinwoo pauses, taking in the information. “We have to find Cho, then.”

Myungjun nods. “Exactly. I assume he’s taken copies of the documents with him. At the very least he knows what was on those documents. He was only one clearance level above me, but I never got to see those documents. They were stored under lock and key and encryption so strong I couldn’t figure out how to access it. The information has to be incriminating.”

Jinwoo sets his hands on his hips as his mind runs over the information. “This is—” He breaks off with a bout of laughter. “This is insane. I can’t believe we’ve managed to get information this important. I wish we could go straight there, but our fuel… I wish you were here, too, to celebrate this win with us.”

Myungjun smiles brightly, his nose scrunching. “I’ll celebrate from here. Contact me again after you get the information from him. You can pop open some champagne or juice or whatever you have on your ship and we’ll have our own celebration party just like this.”

 

Jinwoo likes the sound of that. Maybe he could manage to talk to Myungjun for longer when they stopped on Atlas. He could shoo everybody off the ship and have a little time alone. In the three months since he left, he’s only talked to Myungjun for twenty or thirty minutes at a time. It’s taking a toll on his needy heart.

“You’re too good for this world, Junnie.”

Myungjun ducks his head. “Well, what can I say? It’s why you love— why you love hanging out with me! Right?”

Jinwoo’s mind catches on Myungjun’s pause, shoving it away to be thought about later. “That’s definitely why I love hanging out with you.”

There’s a quick knock on the CTL room door before it slides open, Minhyuk standing on the other side. He’s careful not stop step within the room. The lasers would catch him if he stepped even a single foot within laser range. He’d be displayed to Myungjun, and despite the long history between Myungjun and Minhyuk, that wasn’t a greeting they could make time for if Minhyuk was interrupting them early.

“Gotta sign off, Jinwoo,” Minhyuk says. “Suyeon got away from Bin, she’s heading up here.”

Jinwoo sighs, nodding, and waves his hand to dismiss Minhyuk. Myungjun stands across from him, his shoulders tilted to one side, his head slightly to the other direction. “I need to go, Myungjun. Minhyuk said our comm officer is coming here. I need to get rid of the logs before—”

“Go. You don’t have to explain again. Just don’t leave me out of the celebration after Atlas, alright?”

Jinwoo rolls his eyes. “I won’t. I’ll talk to you soon.” He pauses. “Computer, end broadcast.”

Jinwoo watches Myungjun fade out of existence before rushing into the hallway. He taps quickly to see the logs, dragging the most recent one to the deletion file and then clearing the log from there, too. He’ll have to delete it more permanently later, but first he needs to avoid Suyeon’s questions. Jinwoo presses the off button. The machines in the room finishing powering down just as Jinwoo hears footsteps.

“Captain!” Suyeon greets. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh.” Jinwoo puts on his best face, calming his cheeks and hoping any flaw is hidden away. “I thought you’d gone to sleep already, so I took care of turning of the CTL. You go and get some rest.”

Suyeon smiles, bending in a small bow. “Thanks! I appreciate the help.”

As quickly as she had come, she turns and leaves. Jinwoo stares at the computer on the wall. He doesn’t focus on it as his thoughts pull him elsewhere. Myungjun had almost said it, right? He’d almost said  _ it’s why you love me.  _ Jinwoo sighs, tilting his head. As much as he wanted that to be true, as much as he wanted to make their feelings into actions and confessions of love, he couldn’t and wouldn’t, not right now.

Jinwoo slips into Captain Mode once more, heading to the bridge where he finds Sanha and Sookyung, glad to see the secondary pilot side by side with their first pilot. Hopefully Sanha was teaching her something useful about the ship instead of showing her another dumb trick to play with the gauges or lights.

“Perfect,” Jinwoo says, announcing his presence, “you’re both here. We should reach Hera in eighteen hours or so. Sanha, put us in EHT.”

“On it.” Sanha slides into the pilot seat to activate the EHT drives, flipping several switches.

“And,” Jinwoo continues, “the two of you pick shifts. One sleeps now, the other later. I don’t want to come down here and see a bridge without one of you on it, understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Sookyung says, too cheery for the crew member who’ll likely end up on first shift and therefore awake for the better part of an entire day.

Jinwoo doesn’t correct her, though. He heads right down the hall outside the bridge, the doors sliding shut behind him. The living room of their ship is closer to the back, and from several meters away Jinwoo can hear chatter.

When the door slides open, the chatter ends. Bin sits on the longest couch beside Hyunseo, Chaeyeong lounging in a chair.

Jinwoo taps the door frame. “Lights out in ten. We’ve got eighteen hours to Hera.”

“We’re stopping on Hera?” Hyunseo asks. “Why not stop on Zeus?”

Jinwoo reminds himself Hyunseo is  _ from  _ Zeus before answering. “Easier landing. Might let Sookyung take the wheel for that one.”

“ _ Great _ ,” Chaeyeong mutters.

Jinwoo stands in place as the three of them file out of the room before he continues in. The kitchen and dining areas are empty. The ship jerks familiarly as it slides into EHT when Jinwoo is climbing to the third level of their ship. He finds Soeun chatting with Sebin on the second level of the bridge, and he promptly sends them to bed, too. One door away from the bridge is Jinwoo’s own quarters, empty except for a desk, upright dresser, and his bed. Jinwoo falls onto the bed without changing clothes, only kicking off his boots. As he settles a pillow under his head, he lets the hum of the ship and the whispers of space sliding by lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And!! The adventure continues~ What did you guys think? Jinwoo’s in a pretty difficult position, huh?
> 
> Be sure to check out [vonseal's chapter 2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981921/chapters/34899983)!


	3. Hera

Sanha leans back in the chair, staring at his abandoned drink on the table between him and Bin. They’ve only been on Hera for a little while after having landed safely. Sanha supposes he should be celebrating. He knows the others are. Minhyuk had stayed on the ship to monitor the repairs and teach a few things to Chaeyeong. Jinwoo was somewhere doing something. Suyeon, Hyunseo, and Sebin had made a beeline to the shops. Sanha hadn’t seen Soeun or Sookyung since they landed. Their crew had escaped Dione Station without injury (minus the scrapes on the top of their ship). Their fuel got them to Hera safely. Kyklos has no idea what they’re up to.

 

It’s that last bit that bugs Sanha. Before meeting the crew of the Ambition, Sanha had no reason but to trust in Kyklos. He grew up on Titan, one of two recognized moons orbiting Saturn, where Kyklos had never done any wrong. While nobody in his family had ever worked for Kyklos, the parents of many of his childhood friends did. He went to festivals and camps hosted by Kyklos. A Kyklos explorer, one of the people who ventured to new systems to discover if they could be inhabited by humans, had visited his class during middle school. Sanha’s life had run happily along side Kyklos until a month ago when he’d learned what Jinwoo, Bin, and Minhyuk were been involved in.

 

——

 

Sanha wasn’t quite sure why they had landed. As first pilot, Sanha had access to the official schedule they needed to follow and locations where they were supposed to be. Most of the crew wasn’t privy to information of that sort. It was on a need-to-know basis. The rest of the crew didn’t need to know exactly where they were going to be. In fact, Sanha knew sometimes they didn’t have any specific place to be. They were  _ supposed  _ to head back towards Mars if there was nowhere for them to be, yet Jinwoo ad never asked him to steer them back to Kyklos Syndicate headquarters on the red planet in the month since they’d taken off. He usually asked Sanha to dock at the most bizarre places.

 

Currently they were docked on Charon, the closest moon to Pluto. It wasn’t a terribly interesting place, though Sanha did notice the common area right beyond the docks was abandoned like he’d never seen it before. Sanha had a clear line of sight to every member of the crew who had disembarked so far. On the moons that made up their normal stops, like Jupiter’s Callisto or Ganymede, the common area was always buzzing. Sanha checked his watch, wondering if it was too late for people to be perusing the area. 

 

Charon was one of many moons Kyklos didn’t have claim over, as it was an unrecognized moon. Nobody was allowed to have control over unrecognized moons except for the citizens on the moons themselves. The population was too small for them to be a recognized moon and treated with the same respect as a planet. In fact, their small population would make it almost impossible for the moon to function as a normal planet as far as taxes and all the other official things went. Sanha didn’t know a ton about the committee of governments and the rules they had put in place to keep the inhabited systems running in similar fashions, but he knew enough.

 

Sanha was broken out of his reverie by the large doors leading down to their ship suddenly sliding open. The rest of their crew filed out one by one, led by Minhyuk and Jinwoo taking up the tail. Minhyuk and Jinwoo took a moment to set the code on the monitor outside the door with the code only their crew knew (it wasn’t secure, Sanha knew, since it was only four numbers; they’d had to change it because Hyunseo kept forgetting it). 

 

As Minhyuk and Jinwoo left the monitor, Bin joined them. Sanha knew it was none of his business what they were talking about. He assumed they were talking business. As someone without a ranking title, Sanha didn’t think it was important to be part of conversation, but he  _ wanted  _ to be. 

 

So when Jinwoo, Bin, and Minhyuk made their way beyond the common area directly outside their ship’s dock, Sanha slipped away to follow them.

 

The dome was dark above them, many of the artificial lighting panels dimmed or turned off completely. Sanha could pick out stars in between the gaps of the panels. Unfortunately, he wasn’t here for the stars. Sanha kept his distance. The streets had been pre-planned for the Charon habitat which meant there weren’t many coves or alleys for Sanha to duck into if he needed to. He stuck close to the buildings, ducking under the windows that were lit from inside. Sneaking wasn’t Sanha’s strong suit. Luckily for him, the other three didn’t seem concerned with being followed.

 

When they finally stopped, it was at a pub.  _ So this is where all the people are _ , Sanha thought. It was packed from wall to wall. Using his height to his advantage, Sanha was able to see Jinwoo and the others duck into a room on the far side. Before the door shut, he saw at least two others inside. There was definitely something going on. Sanha hesitated. Did he really want to know what his captain, second-in-command, and chief engineer were doing when they weren’t aboard the ship? 

 

Sanha had always been curious. Sticking his nose where it didn’t belong often got him in trouble, though. Was finding out what his crew members were up to worth the possibility of getting scolded by them?

 

Sanha decided it was. He made his way to the door then past it. The next closest room as far as Sanha could tell was the bathroom. It sort of smelled, but Sanha would put up with it. He was more curious than he was disgusted. He locked himself in one of the stalls, immediately stepping around the toilet and pressing his ear against what he deemed was the cleanest part of the wall.

 

Through the noise of people outside of the bathroom and the stammering of those who stumbled into the bathroom, Sanha listened to the hushed voices beyond the wall. He picked out some phrases he couldn’t understand. Someone said “confirming what we learned last month.” Jinwoo said “information from our inside man,” which definitely piqued Sanha’s interest. There were names he couldn’t place and terms he didn’t know the meanings of. Sanha listened to the muffled conversation for what must have been half an hour before there was yelling, louder than usual and from more than just a few people, in the main area of the pub. 

 

Sanha scurried out of the bathroom to investigate. Mixed among the casual pub patrons were Kyklos security agents. They wore the heavy armor Sanha had assumed was just for show at the festivals, the Kyklos logo emblazoned on every piece. Every single one wore breathing masks, the dark shields hiding their faces. Most of them carried Moleculo Blasters, but on some of their hips—

 

_ Was that a  _ real  _ gun? _

 

Sanha was pushed outside the pub with the rest of the patrons. More security agents surrounded the building, these wearing the same heavy armor and breathing masks as those inside (though the ones outside weren’t armed with  _ guns _ ). The masks made sense once Sanha saw the siege packs, but he didn’t get to look at much else before the crowd pushed him along and far away from the building. He eventually turned away from the crowd and down a side street, getting lost on his way back to their ship.

 

Sanha didn’t stop to process until he was finally on the ship’s bridge, slouched in the first pilot’s seat. Moleculo Blasters were for slowing down enemies with a highly complex chemical compound,  _ not  _ for use on civilians relaxing in a pub. The siege packs made it hard for enemies to see and hear and smell. Sanha swore siege packs had been outlawed centuries ago.  And the _ guns _ —Sanha had only ever seen a gun in photos during history class in secondary school. He didn’t know guns still existed anymore.

 

Sanha was yanked out of his thoughts by the sound of someone’s voice raising on the floor above him. He raced up the ladder, skidding around the corner and into the dining area where Jinwoo, Bin, and Minhyuk sat around the table.

 

“What was that?” Sanha asked through his heavy breaths. “Those security agents—they had  _ guns.  _ Real guns! What were you guys doing there?”

 

“What are you talking about?” Bin sat furthest from the door Sanha had entered through. He looked particularly comfortable, as if he’d been on the ship the entire time. “We just came up to the ship from—”

 

“I followed you. I know you went to that pub and they had  _ guns _ , you guys!” Sanha turned his attention to Jinwoo, pushing his shoulders back and standing up as tall as he could. “Captain, I know I’m in no place to give orders, but as first pilot and a member of this crew that has pledged loyalty to you, I demand you tell me what you were doing there.”

 

Jinwoo looked away from him, to Minhyuk and Bin. Bin shook his head while Minhyuk shrugged. With a sigh, Jinwoo dropped his head onto his arms atop the table.

 

“Damnit,” Jinwoo whispered.

 

Sanha swallowed the lump in his throat. “Sir, I didn’t mean to be rude, but I just—”

 

“Kyklos are the bad guys”—Bin stood up from his chair—”and we’re with a movement to expose what they’re really capable of doing.”

 

“What do you—”

 

“The housing project on Europa, for example,” Bin continued. “They’ve started putting up crime lords in those homes instead of the low income like they promised in their project proposal.”

 

“But—”

 

“Minhyuk has been personally wronged by the Syndicate. Right, Minhyuk?”

 

“You’re scaring him, Bin, jeez,” Minhyuk said. 

 

Minhyuk got out of his chair, crossing the room to Sanha. He patted him once on the arm before dragging him forward to sit in one of the unoccupied chairs, plopping down beside him.

 

“To put it in simpler terms,” Minhyuk said, “there are things the Syndicate— _ Kyklos _ —is doing that is hurting a lot of people, and most people don’t know about it. We’re trying to fix that.”

 

Sanha stared at Minhyuk then glanced at the others. “But you’re just three people.”

 

“That’s where the movement comes in,” Bin said. “It’s not just us. Across all the systems where Kyklos has a hold, there are people like us. Every planet, every moon, every station. We’re all working together.”

 

“That’s what we were doing today,” Jinwoo said. “Exchanging information. We can tell you what we know, but only on one condition.”

 

Sanha hesitated, looking at each of them in turn. He trusted his crew members, or at least he wanted to. He didn’t think something this wild could be a lie. Even so, Sanha got the feeling that if he went forward, there would be no turning back. Would he have to change his name? What would happen if they got caught?

 

Sanha let out a single breath before focusing his attention on Jinwoo. “What do I need to do?”

 

——

 

Sanha had pledged allegiance to the cause and to Jinwoo that day. Since then, he has done everything he can to serve Jinwoo and the movement. He’s seen more than he could’ve imagined at that time. He’s learned things that have directly contradicted his way of life growing up. Despite all the evidence he’d seen against Kyklos since then, Sanha still has many questions and even more worries.

 

“Bin.” Sanha leans forward, settling his elbows on the table on either side of his drink. “Do you think we’re bad people?”

 

Bin coughs, as he’d been taking a sip of his drink, and gives Sanha a wild look. “Why would you say that?”

 

“Because of what we’re doing.” Sanha lowers his voice as he leans forward more. “We’re breaking the rules.”

 

Bin took a proper sip of his drink, the level of alcohol in Bin’s glass dwindling quite a bit. He sits the glass down heavily when he’s satisfied, though he still doesn’t speak. Sanha waits in silence. He tunes out the chatter around them, hoping Bin wouldn’t say they were bad people. If Sanha had become a bad person by doing the things he believes are right—

 

“If we’re bad people,” Bin says, “then we’re bad people doing the right thing.”

 

Sanha leans back in his chair once more. Bin didn’t say they  _ were  _ bad people. He said  _ if  _ they were bad people. As he drums his fingers on his thigh, Bin’s watch beeps.

 

“I gotta go,” Bin says hurriedly.

 

Sanha almost asks  _ is that your boyfriend calling _ , but he refrains. Bin’s not-relationship is his own business (though Sanha is always eager to know what Minhyuk finds out when eavesdropping, which he does often). 

 

With Bin gone, Sanha is alone in a crowd. He supposes he needs to go celebrate. He should keep up face or risk drawing suspicion from others, from the crew. Sitting alone in a pub would definitely draw the suspicion of the people directly around him, at least. Sanha pushes back from the table, his chair screeching as it scrapes the floor. Leaving his drink behind, he makes his way through the crowd and out into the streets.

 

Sanha stops a ways away from the pub to look up at the sky. Hera is locked towards Zeus just as Sanha’s home moon Titan had been to Saturn, giving the moon constant sunlight for two weeks at a time. It’s sort of comforting. Despite being over a dozen light-years away from home, Sanha still found things familiar. Sanha had always assumed life in space and on other planets and moons would be drastically different. Aside from the local flora and fauna of the open living planets and moons differing somewhat, Sanha has yet to find something pushing the boundaries of the believable. He wishes there would be something like that suddenly. 

 

Sanha’s thoughts are thrown off by a shout of his name coming from behind him.

 

Jinwoo jogs, slowly, to meet him. They walk in silence for a while as a question chews at Sanha’s brain. He knows what Jinwoo believes in. As the captain of the Ambition and the leader of their unit of the anti-Kyklos movement, Jinwoo has to have always been sure of what he believes in. At least Sanha assumes so.

 

“Is what we’re doing okay?”

 

Jinwoo looks up at him with a curious expression. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean”—Sanha glances in front of them, then behind—”landing where we aren’t supposed to and trying to take down Kyklos from the inside.”

 

“Do you believe in what we’re doing?” Jinwoo asks instead of answering his initial question.

 

Sanha stares at the ground as they walk. He supposes he does. They’ve yet to visit a place that’s been treated badly by Kyklos. Aside from their encounter with the natural citizens of Leda on Dione Station, Sanha hasn’t seen how people who lived like that really act. Even Minhyuk isn’t that outward with his frustration and anger despite having grown up with terrible conditions (though Sanha doesn’t know how terrible; he only knows that Minhyuk grew up somewhere “unforgiving” in the Gliese System). Sanha knows that people experience terrible living situations through numerous systems. The thought of what  _ his  _ life could’ve been like, the lives of his friends and family if he’d been born somewhere else, makes Sanha’s skin crawl. He doesn’t want that for anybody else. Even if he’s unsure that they’re going about it the right way, Sanha doesn’t want anybody to have to suffer like that.

 

“I do.” Sanha nods seriously, glancing at Jinwoo. “I believe in what we’re doing.”

 

Jinwoo smiles. “If you believe in it, then you should know that what we’re doing is okay. Don’t get so caught up in the details and the  _ what ifs _ . Just trust that we’re making a difference, because we are.”

 

Of course Jinwoo knew exactly what to say to put him at ease. He was captain for a reason. With his questions gone, Sanha sticks his hands in the pockets of his pants and continues to walk beside Jinwoo, just as he’ll continue to live his life down this path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sanha is a confused baby and Jinwoo is an amazing caption. Where did Bin run off to, though...?
> 
> Be sure to check out [vonseal's chapter 3!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981921/chapters/35118875)
> 
> You can find me on Twitter where I post spoilers for future chapters of this and other fics!


	4. Hera

Bin is startled by Sanha’s question, coughing when his drink sticks in his throat. He raises a brow at Sanha. “Why would you say that?”

He understands, though. They’re working against Kyklos. For the first while after Jinwoo, Minhyuk, and Myungjun revealed the truth to him, Bin had been wary, too. What if they get caught? What if they get sent to jail, or worse? Bin had many doubts in the beginning. None of those doubts remain now.

“Because of what we’re doing.” Sanha leans forward more. “We’re breaking the rules.”

Bin sighs, taking a deep drink from his glass. Sanha is right. They are breaking the rules, but there’s a reason for it. They aren’t mindlessly fighting against Kyklos. They’re working towards a common goal beside all the people Kyklos has and continues to do wrong against. 

“If we’re bad people, then we’re bad people doing the right thing.” Bin shifts in his chair, watching as Sanha’s eyes focus on the table in thought.

Though Sanha has time to contemplate what they’re doing, Bin doesn’t. His watch beeps, the screen flashing with a notification.

REQUEST FOR CTL: Dongmin, Lee. ID #A30ce236

“I gotta go.”

Bin’s first thought is there’s something wrong. Dongmin never calls Bin first, but of course he wouldn’t be calling Bin in an emergency anyway. As he makes his way back to the ship, almost running, he goes over the dozens of reasons why Dongmin might have called first. Maybe he just wants to talk. Dongmin would want to say something specific since he was calling first. The notification disappears from Bin’s wrist as he makes his way up the ladder on the ship. Bin runs for the CTL rooms as soon as he’s able to.

“Please still be around,” Bin whispers to himself. 

It’s a rush to set up the CTL room. Bin rarely does it himself, though he certainly can. Suyeon had made it very clear to the entire crew that she wanted to handle it. It was her only real job on the ship, after all.

The system whirs to life as Bin types in Dongmin’s ID number. His is one of three Bin has memorized, the other two being his mom and sister’s. How are his family doing, anyway? He hasn’t talked to them since he left. Bin makes a mental note to call them soon.

Bin shuts the CTL room door as the lasers on the far half of the room bring Dongmin into existence. With Dongmin’s smiling face flickering into view, Bin sighs in relief. He’d thought Dongmin would’ve walked off in the time it took him to get to the rooms.

“Dongmin, hey.” Bin laughs through his somewhat labored breathing. “What’s up? I wasn’t on board, so I ran practically the whole way here.”

Dongmin shakes his head. “It’s fine, I’m not doing much anyway. Well, I mean, Dad is throwing another one of his parties. There’s a lot of people around, but I was just standing there.”

That explains the suit Dongmin wears. It’s not overly formal, but it’s a nice suit. It fits Dongmin well, drawing attention to his thinner waist and broad shoulders. His hair is fixed nicely, too, flat across his forehead in a purposeful way. Bin wants to tell Dongmin he’s attractive in the suit. Bin wants to tell Dongmin he would kiss him if he could. He can’t express either of those sentiments or anything like it. As the old Earth saying went, it would be like opening a can of worms. He doesn’t get the chance to voice his intruding thoughts, anyway.

“That’s not why I called, though. I was thinking about what you said last time.”

Last time? Bin had told Dongmin he would’ve stayed on Mars if he’d asked. What could Dongmin have been thinking about?

“Do you—” Dongmin pauses, and Bin can see the tension in his shoulders. “Do you wish things happened differently? That you hadn’t joined Kyklos, or maybe you’d been assigned to work here on Mars instead of sent off into space?”

Bin considers the question carefully. This is a dangerous line of thinking that settles a bad feeling in his gut. “I don’t know,” he says. “I haven’t thought about it because there’s not a point to. Things aren’t different, and time travel is out of the question.”

Perhaps Bin was too harsh. Dongmin’s composure falters slightly. “I, um—I guess you’re right, but I was thinking— okay, well, Kyklos already has me set up in one of their employee homes, and I’m probably going to start working for them soon. Maybe, I don’t know, but I think I might.”

Air catches in Bin’s throat. He knows Dongmin’s father wanted him to work for Kyklos, though Bin has always assumed Dongmin wouldn’t actually go through with it. He would stay away from Kyklos, and he would be safe. If Dongmin joined Kyklos, he could find out everything. He could find out the bad things Kyklos does. It would ruin his relationship with his father. Though Bin doesn’t doubt his choices in the slightest, this isn’t a life he wants Dongmin to live.

“I want you to move in with me when you get back.”

For the second time in fifteen minutes, Bin chokes. He coughs, brows pulling together sharply. “What?”

“I know it’s sudden,” Dongmin continues, waving his hands in the air, “but I think it would work out. I mean, we haven’t spent a lot of time together in person but I know you well enough because of the time we spend together like this.”

Bin blinks. “You do know I won’t be back on Mars permanently for a long time, right?”

“That’s why I was thinking!” Dongmin smiles, though he looks nervous. “You could request a sector change. You could say you want to keep working for Kyklos but not through the cargo sector. And I’m sure I could get my dad to push it through, too. There wouldn’t be anything stopping you.”

Bin isn’t sure if his chest has ever been this tight before. If he agreed and moved in with Dongmin, it would only put Dongmin at risk. He could live a normal life with Dongmin beside him, but he doesn’t want to. Well, he does. Living beside Dongmin with a regular, low-risk job on Mars would be nothing short of blissful. As enticing as the offer was, though, Bin knows he won’t be able to stop working against Kyklos. Knowing what he knows now, there’s no way he could return to a normal life and ignore what was going on behind the scenes.

“You can’t ask me that,” Bin sighs. “Dongmin, that’s not a good idea.”

Dongmin wrings his hands in front of himself for a moment. “Let me leave with you.”

Silence grows between them as they stare at each other. The distance between them is only a few meters, but it feels further than it ever has before.

“I’ll take the exams. I’ll pass the exams and I’ll request to get put on your ship. Or—or you and your captain could request to have me join your crew.”

It would be a dream. Sitting side by side on the bridge with Dongmin, traveling from one planet to the next, the stars all around them—

Bin can’t let that happen. For Dongmin’s sake, for Dongmin’s safety, Bin needs to keep his distance. Jinwoo had reminded him as much not too long ago. The closer Bin is to Dongmin, the higher the risk of Dongmin being suspected of working against Kyklos is. 

“His dad might be high up,” Jinwoo had said, “but not even he could protect him from the really powerful people in the Syndicate.”

Bin won’t let anything bad happen to Dongmin if he can stop it. From almost two dozen light years away, he can still stop Dongmin from getting involved. There’s an invisible dagger stuck in his heart. He has to do the right thing. It’s going to hurt both of them. It might even tear a massive hole in the fragile relationship they have. Bin clenches his jaw. Dongmin would get over him. He would be safe, and he would be happy eventually.

“Could you be happy here?” Bin asks, eyes trained on Dongmin. “Could be happy in the void of space?”

Dongmin opens his mouth, then closes it.

“It’s not fun, you know.” The lie leaves a sour taste in his mouth.

Dongmin takes a step forward. “We could make it fun! I’m sure it’s fun being able to see different places.”

“It’s not a vacation, Dongmin. The ship is cramped and old. It’s stressful being here.” Lie.

“But you—” Dongmin stammers over his words. “You always talk about the amazing things you see.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s worth being out here. Plus, I’m second-in-command. I don’t get a ton of time to myself, so I’d have even less time to give you.” Lie.

“But you’re here with me now. If you don’t have time to yourself, how did you get to come back to the ship for CTL?” Dongmin crosses his arms.

“This is the first down time we’ve had in months.” Lie. “You wouldn’t like being out here.” Lie. “You couldn’t be happy out here.” Lie.

“You don’t know that.” 

Dongmin’s jaw is tight, his shoulders stiff. His eyes are misty. Bin hates this. He doesn’t want to lie, but if he doesn’t, Dongmin will only fight more to join him on the Ambition or have him stay on Mars. Neither of those options would keep Dongmin safe. The invisible dagger cuts deeper into his heart. If shattering their relationship is what it takes for Dongmin to be safe, Bin has to do that.

“I do know it. You would hate being out here with me. Don’t ask me to stay with you, and don’t try to join me. It wouldn’t work either way.”

“Bin—”

Rather than fight him more and risk coming clean on a whim, Bin jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “Someone’s calling me. I have to go.”

Bin leaves the room quickly, ignoring Dongmin’s protests. He doesn’t turn off the broadcast properly, either, instead going to the wall across from the room and sinking to the floor. He had to make a choice. Bin wouldn’t be happy on Mars with a normal life. He cradles his head in his hands. Dongmin wouldn’t be safe aboard the ship with the work Bin does against Kyklos. He ruined whatever fragment of a relationship there was between himself and Dongmin, but he did it for Dongmin. He did it to keep Dongmin safe. He did the right thing. It was the only thing he could’ve done.

After a long time sitting on the floor of the hall, Bin climbs to his feet. He pulls the CTL room door open, gazing across the empty room to see Dongmin gone. 

This is for the best. This will keep Dongmin safe.

Bin ignores the heaviness of his aching heart and turns off the CTL system. Bin ignores the pain in his chest and heads down the ladder. Bin ignores every thought about Dongmin and joins his crew members in pursuing the stores, telling himself he did the right thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Bin and Dongmin's relationship? Poor Bin, having to make such a tough decision... If you wanna talk, you can catch me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/snibwrites)!
> 
> And! Make sure you read [vonseal's chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981921/chapters/35323503) to get the other half of the story~


	5. Hera

Sanha narrowly avoids bumping into Minhyuk’s back as the crowd moves around them in every direction. Hera’s dock platform is chaotic, even more so than Dione Station’s had been. Despite being home to a population only half the size of Titan’s, Sanha never experienced crowds like this at home. He hadn’t experienced foot traffic like this even when he had been training on Mars until four months ago.

 

Minhyuk seizes his wrist, pulling him down another row of stalls. It’s considerably less packed. Before Sanha can compliment Minhyuk’s maneuvering, however, the older is already observing the vendors with purpose. Sanha resists the natural urge to roll his eyes. This was typical Minhyuk behavior. 

 

Sanha had quickly learned he and Minhyuk were almost polar opposites once they had been assigned to the same crew. Sanha likes to  _ enjoy  _ their time on their stops, even when they had to drag heavy crates out of the cargo hold of the Ambition. Minhyuk, however, only focuses on the task at hand. It wasn’t just their travel preferences that were different. Minhyuk prefered small gatherings and quieter days. Sanha always sought out a crew member to talk to or an activity to occupy himself with. Minhyuk doesn’t talk much, whereas Sanha talks more on his own in one day than the rest of the crew combined. Minhyuk was realistic. Sanha was optimistic. Many things set them apart. Those differences only served to draw Sanha more towards Minhyuk. They were the closest members on the crew, closer than even Jinwoo and Bin.

 

“Sanha?”

 

He blinks as Minhyuk waves a hand in front of his face to get his attention. Had he really spaced out that much?

 

“We need the list.”

 

A short burst of laughter spills out of Sanha. “Right!” He roots around in his pockets (shirt pockets, pants pockets,  _ and  _ jacket pockets) until he finds the paper he had folded, though now it’s more of a crumbled ball than the neatly folded square it had been when Jinwoo handed it over with orders.

 

Minhyuk’s shoulders slump as he takes the paper from Sanha’s fingers. Sanha hadn’t read the list of items they were tasked with gathering before. He shuffles to stand beside Minhyuk, the shorter’s shoulder pressing into his chest as Sanha curls over it.

 

“Soap?” Sanha points at the list. “And Jinwoo expects us to find a multiwrench here?”

 

“ _ Captain _ ,” Minhyuk mutters. 

 

To Sanha, the comment seems like a side thought. He knows Minhyuk holds Jinwoo in the highest position of regard from the way he speaks about him. The slip-up of Sanha’s words don’t seem to bother him at the moment. His eyes are far away, a sure sign his mind is elsewhere. 

 

Minhyuk straightens quickly, handing the list to Sanha. “Find what you can. I’m going to get the multiwrench.”

 

Sanha grabs the list as Minhyuk pushes it into his chest. He stares in shock for a short moment before taking several large steps to catch up with Minhyuk.

 

“We should go together!” Sanha announces, slinging his arm around Minhyuk’s shoulder like he would with any of the other crew members (except for maybe Bin— their second in command is seriously terrifying).

 

Minhyuk scratches his jaw as they walk side-by-side. “It would be faster if we split up to find—”

 

“The Ambition won’t be flight ready for another few  _ hours _ ,” Sanha whines. “Plus, we barely get to hang out. You’re an engineer. I’m first pilot. We don’t really cross paths.”

 

Minhyk nods. “Okay. But if we’re scolded by Captain—”

 

“My fault, I know.” Sanha hums to himself as they walk, eyes scanning the booths. “You’re from around here, right? Helen, or something?”

 

Minhyuk’s shoulders tense beneath Sanha’s arm. He drops the subject immediately, and removes his arm from Minhyuk’s shoulder, too. Instead of continuing to walk, he grabs the arm of Minhyuk’s Kyklos jacket and points to a food stall. 

 

“ _ Those _ ,” Sanha hisses, “look amazing.”

 

Minhyuk raises a brow at him. “What does?”

 

“The caramel wedges! My brothers and I used to help my mom make them when Dad got back from his trips to the far side of Titan.” Sanha’s grip tightens on Minhyuk’s jacket, the older’s eyes going down to his hand momentarily. “Can we get some?”

 

Minhyuk hesitates, his facade cracking slightly. Sanha would dance around in circles if they weren’t in the middle of a busy market. He knows that look. He knows he’s won without Minhyuk uttering a single word.

 

“Fine,” Minhyuk sighs, “if they’re not expensive. We need to have enough credits to buy all the stuff on the list, or as much as we can find—”

 

Sanha doesn’t pay attention to the rest of Minhyuk’s chatter, tugging him across the walkway to the stall by his hand. Fifteen minutes later, they each have their own small bag of caramel wedges and a sizeable chunk knocked out of Minhyuk’s credits.

 

“Favorite color?” Sanha turns on his heel to walk backward. 

 

It doesn’t last more than a few seconds, however. He bumps into another patron or perhaps a Hera native, immediately bowing in apology while walking faster to get away from the embarrassment. When he rises, Sanha avoids Minhyuk’s eyes and pats his warm, red cheeks. 

 

“You didn’t see that,” Sanha mumbles, glancing at Minhyuk.

 

Plastered on Minhyuk’s face is a familiar, amused expression.

 

“You’re such a klutz,” Minhyuk teases.

 

Sanha scoffs, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. “It’s not my fault he was blocking my way.”

 

Minhyuk smirks, bumping his shoulder into Sanha’s side. “Sure. It  _ definitely  _ wasn’t your fault.”

 

“Really, though.” Sanha shoves another caramel wedge into his mouth, speaking around it. “What’s your favorite color?”

 

It takes 45 more minutes to find every item on their list, locating the multiwrench taking up a majority of that time. Sanha’s feet ache as they drop into a wide chair truly meant for only one person. His right thigh and hip are squished against Minhyuk’s, his left side pressing almost uncomfortably into the arm of the chair.

 

“You’re so  _ wide _ ,” Minhyuk groans, poking at Sanha’s side. “I mean, you’ve gotten wider. It makes it hard to share a seat with you now.”

 

Sanha moves before he thinks. He stands, side steps, and sits sideways across Minhyuk’s legs.

 

“There. Now you have the whole chair to yourself, and I have a comfortable set of legs as my chair.”

 

“But you’re boney!” 

 

Minhyuk pushes at Sanha’s side fruitlessly. Sanha stays seated firmly on Minhyuk’s lap, pulling another caramel wedge out of his bag. He’s eaten nearly all of them. Maybe he can talk Minhyuk into buying him more? Sanha watches the people weaving between stalls, buying goods and spending time together. 

 

Their lives would always be different from his. They could live peacefully on Hera, biding their time and making friends and finding love and going to a normal job each and every day. Sanha would always have issues living a normal life now that he knew what Kyklos was truly up to. He kicks the disturbing thoughts out of his head as quickly as they rise. Sanha was more jealous of the domestic parts of the people’s lives anyway. They could make friends and decorate their own apartment. They could walk to work or stay out late at night with their families. As a couple pass before them, hands clasped, Sanha’s spirit sinks.

 

“How am I supposed to find love when we’re always flying around in space?” Sanha watches the couple disappear from sight. “There’s no point in even hoping anymore.”

 

Minhyuk snorts from beside him, shoving him once more. Sanha slides from Minhyuk’s legs this time. He quickly claims the open space beside Minhyuk, fitting comfortably in front of Minhyuk’s outstretched arm. 

 

It’s cozy with Minhyuk pressed into his side. A tiny voice in the back of his head says that maybe, possibly, he could fall in love with Minhyuk. That would be crazy, of course, since they’re just friends. 

 

“You’re taking relationships too seriously.” Minhyuk gestures to another couple walking by, bickering loudly. “That could be your reality.”

 

Sanha folds his arms across his chest. “Maybe I  _ want  _ it to be.”

 

Minhyuk raises a brow, staring at him. “You want to argue with your significant other?”

 

“Well, I mean—” Sanha sighs. “No, but it would mean I have a significant other. And we would forgive each other, because that’s what people do in relationships. My mom and dad used to fight but they always made up because they love each other.”

 

“I don’t know.” Minhyuk stares after the bickering couple. “Relationships aren’t that great.”

 

Sanha pokes Minhyuk’s side. “You sound like you just got out of a bad relationship.”

 

Minhyuk barely glances at him, redirecting his attention to the stalls around them instead. He pauses before he speaks. “Something like that.”

 

Sanha blinks. He hadn’t thought Minhyuk had had a relationship. At least, he’d never spoken about it before if he had. Sanha sinks back in the chair, Minhyuk’s arm pressing against the back of his shoulders. The voice in his head instructs him to lean his head on Minhyuk’s shoulder. He doesn’t.

 

“I guess,” he mumbles, “I could date one of the crew.”

 

His statement catches Minhyuk’s attention, earning him an incredulous stare. “You would date someone on the crew?”

 

Sanha shrugs. “I mean, I don’t think long distance stuff works. You’re always telling me about Bin complaining about he and that boy on Mars having issues. I guess Jinwoo and Myungjun seem fine, though.”

 

“Who would you date from the crew, though?”

 

“Well.” Sanha thinks. “It can’t be Bin or Jinwoo. They’re already caught up in stuff, plus they’re first and second. It would be weird to date a commanding officer, right?”

 

Minhyuk laughs quietly. “Yeah, it’d be weird.”

 

“Suyeon is out, too.” Sanha turns halfway to face Minhyuk. “She called me  _ dude  _ the other day! She might as well be a clone of my oldest brother. He talks like that a lot, ya know. Always saying ‘dude, check it out’ or ‘dinner’s ready, dude’.”

 

Sanha frowns. He misses his brother. He misses his family on Titan.

 

“Soeun?” Minhyuk’s question pulls Sanha back into the moment. “You’re the same age so it wouldn’t be too awkward.”

 

Sanha shakes his head. “She’s too stiff. I want to go on adventures with my partner. They need to be able to roll with the punches. Plus, I heard her in CTL once. It sounded like she has someone waiting for her back home.”

 

Minhyuk grins. “That’s cute.”

 

The words  _ you’re cute  _ pop into Sanha’s head and he shoves them away. He could never tell Minhyuk that even though he’s thought it for months. They were friends, and only friends. Friends didn’t openly call each other cute in normal situations. It takes a surprising amount of will power for Sanha to keep the words in his throat.

 

“Chaeyeong wouldn’t date you,” Minhyuk states. “She’s a lot older than you.”

 

“It’s four years,” Sanha whines. “I’m not a baby. I’m 19!”

 

“Only babies say they’re not a baby. Real adults don’t have to defend their ages.”

 

Sanha scowls. “ _ You’re  _ a baby.”

 

Minhyuk smiles. “If you say so.” He pauses, and his face lights up mischievously. “Oh, I know! You should date Sookyung.”

 

Sanha fake gags. “Sookyung? No way. She’s nice, but she’s also kind of annoying. I don’t want to date someone annoying.”

 

“Hyunseo isn’t annoying. He’s pretty cool.”

 

Sanha ignores the stinging in his heart. It was probably all the caramel wedges catching up to him. The voice in his head told him he’s never had this reaction to caramel wedges before. He ignores it.

 

“He’s a pretty good engineer. I mean, he knows his way around a tool box most of the time. Though I did ask him to check the drive systems last month and he had no idea where to look.” Minhyuk’s face pulls together in thought. “Actually, he’s pretty clueless.”

 

Sanha smiles. “I bet I could find the drive systems.”

 

Minhyuk laughs, the sound making Sanha’s chest swell with a feeling he can’t name. Sanha shuts down the voice in his head before it can name the feeling. 

 

“Remind me to ask you to take Hyunseo’s spot. I think you’re all out of options for dating, though. Unless you want to date me.” Minhyuk stares at him. “You don’t want to date me, do you?”

 

“No way!” Sanha shakes his head. “Not in a million years.”

 

The voice in his head says otherwise.

 

Minhyuk laughs again. “Okay, good. I thought the conversation was going to get awkward.” He glances at his watch. “We should go check on the ship.”

 

“And get more caramel wedges.” Sanha retrieves his last one from the bottom of the bag.

 

“More?” Minhyuk eyes him. “You’re going to be sick if you keep eating all that candy.”

 

Sanha pouts, and Minhyuk changes right away. “Okay, fine. We’ll get more.”

 

Sanha practically skips towards the stall a few rows away. Minhyuk grabs his hand when the crowd gets dense along the way. Sanha thinks maybe Minhyuk’s hand lingers on his for too long at first. When they reach the stall from before, the crowd still around them, Minhyuk doesn’t let go of his hand.

 

Minhyuk grabs the bar above their heads which supports the sign and leans forward. Sanha thinks he looks casually beautiful—which, of course, is a completely normal thought to think of a best friend. The voice in his head tries to protest. Sanha sticks by his judgement.

 

“A bag of caramel wedges, please.” Minhyuk smiles at the vendor.

 

She’s a different vendor than the one before, but she reacts to Minhyuk’s smile the same way the one before had. The tips of her ears turn pink, eyes widening slightly. 

 

“Coming right up, dearie.” She speaks in another language before the small bud in Sanha’s ear translates what she said. He notices one clipped to her ear, too, an older model than the ones Kyklos provides to all their workers. It comes in handy when someone doesn’t speak one of the common languages. Sanha isn’t sure how he’d get by on some of their stops without it.

 

The vendor scoops the candy into the bag, handing it over. Sanha takes it, dropping it into their bag of other goods.

 

“How much do I owe you?” Minhyuk uses his free hand to dig into his inner jacket pocket.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” She smiles widely. “Caramel wedges are free for a couple as cute as you two. I didn’t know Kyklos allowed crew members to date each other.”

 

Sanha’s chin drops. As he mentally trips over his thoughts, Minhyuk acts as if they really are a couple. He smiles sweetly at Sanha before leaning towards the vendor.

 

“They don’t,” Minhyuk whispers, winking.

 

Minhyuk tugs him away as the vendor laughs, not letting go of his hand until they’re out of view.

 

Sanha immediately cradles his hand against his chest as if holding hands had hurt him. The voice in his head urges him to slip his fingers between Minhyuk’s once more. 

 

He stares at Minhyuk with his best stern look. “What was that about? We’re not a couple!”

 

“Free food, Sanha.” Minhyuk shakes his head. “Don’t get caught on the details. We saved six credits.”

 

“But you— she—”

 

“Sanha.” Minhyuk puts a hand on Sanha’s shoulder. He has to tilt his head back to look Sanha in the eyes due to their close proximity. Sanha fleetingly wonders if Minhyuk will grow any taller. The voice in his head returns to point out that the distance between their bodies was, in fact, quite small. Sanha ignores it once more.

 

“You’re my best friend in the entire universe, okay?” Minhyuk smiles. “I’ll pretend to be a couple if it gets us free food, but I’d never actually date you.”

 

Sanha drops his hand from his chest, tilting his head to the side and smiling cutely. “Are you sure you won’t? I think I’m pretty cute.”

 

Minhyuk’s cheeks go pink. He turns, speed-walking away from Sanha and into the crowd.

 

“Hey!” Sanha laughs as he rushes to catch up. “It was a joke!”

 

Hera’s engineers take a short time longer to get the ship flight ready after Minhyuk and Sanha return. Sanha slips into the first pilot seat once they’ve given the all clear He taps on the console, showing off the fixed fuel gauge to Jinwoo and Minhyuk.

 

Jinwoo whistles. “We barely made it.”

 

Sanha nods, eyes on the  _ 2%  _ reading for the reserve tank. They were almost a piece of space trash.

 

“I’ll make sure everybody is on board,” Jinwoo says. “Sanha, prep for launch. Minhyuk, one last look over the engine room, please. I don’t always trust these mechanics.”

 

Minhyuk smirks. “But you know you can trust me. I’ll check it.”

 

Sanha readies the ship’s systems, drumming his fingers as they load slowly. He watches his fingers as his mind drifts. Minhyuk had held his hand. Their fingers had been locked together. Minhyuk’s hand was warm and comfortable against his own. Sanha sort of wants to hold his hand again, even if only for a moment, just to remind himself of how nice it had been.

 

Sookyung drops into the secondary pilot’s seat beside him. Sanha snatches his hand off the console as if he’d been doing something he wasn’t supposed to. She eyes him curiously. Thankfully for Sanha, there’s no time for her to voice any accusations.

 

“Strap in,” Jinwoo commands, sitting in the chair behind the pilot’s deck. “Sanha, get us to Atlas.”

 

“Atlas?” Soeun asks. “Kyklos doesn’t have a station there. What are we going for?”

 

Sanha revs the ship’s engines, drowning out a need for a reply. There’s no chance any of them—Jinwoo, Bin, Minhyuk, or himself—could give a good enough answer for that on the spot. The hangar doors open with a groan. Sanha forces himself to focus on the ship, leaving his thoughts to be dealt with later and locking some thoughts into a box he promises to never open again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me some comments! I love reading comments and hearing what you guys have to say and just _connecting_ with you guys. Speaking of, find me [@snibwrites](https://twitter.com/snibwrites/) on Twitter!


	6. Atlas

The criminally-inclined unit of the Ambition’s crew seems to have an inability to keep organized. Jinwoo sighs and leans against the hall’s cold metal wall. They’ve only had Cho’s dog on board their ship for half an hour, and somehow they’ve managed to lose it. Perhaps his decision hadn’t been the best. After all, stealing a dog isn’t their usual means of getting information. Jinwoo is tired, though. He wants to rest. It’s been three long months aboard their ship. It’s been three long months of playing for Kyklos while trying to take them down from the inside. Jinwoo is ready to go home and visit his family. He wants to see his brother and sister-in-law. He wants to see his parents. 

 

“Jinwoo!” Minhyuk yells from around the bend in the hall. “Dog isn’t on the bridge! I shut it so he can’t get in there.”

 

Thankfully they’re still alone on the ship, he, Minhyuk, and Sanha. Bin had been the brave soul to volunteer to return to Cho’s home to leave the ransom note. Sanha was put in charge of the dog while Jinwoo did what he does best: worry. That’s where he had gone wrong. Sanha has lost the dog and it’s nowhere to be found. Bin’s trick of luring the dog out of Cho’s yard with food in the first place hasn’t seemed to work a second time. If they can’t find the dog—

 

“We’ll find the dog.” Bin steps off the ladder, coming to his side. “All the outer doors have been shut except for when I left and came back, and I didn’t see the dog. It’s around here somewhere.”

 

Jinwoo nods. “I know. I’m worried we’ll get an answer from Cho and won’t have the dog. Or, possibly worse, someone will come back on board and find the dog instead of us.”

 

Managing suspicion is a hard task. Jinwoo is luckily the only one with high enough clearance to access to their travel and CTL logs (though he has shared his log information with Bin in the case of an emergency). Nobody else is aware of the large gaps in their travel log. Nobody else is aware of his routine of deleting his CTL conversations with Myungjun. The work doesn’t stop there, however. Jinwoo, Bin, Sanha, and Minhyuk are all responsible for pieces of information against Kyklos hidden around the ship. There are panels of the walls in the ship they’ve pried off, hidden information behind, and secured again. Jinwoo has a dozen papers hidden in his personal bag. The box of Bin’s “favorite snack”, a snack none of them honestly eat because of the disgusting flavor, hides in-ear communicators in the case of an emergency. On a ship like the Ambition where all doors are open to every member of the crew, hiding things isn’t easy.

 

Jinwoo wants to go home.

 

There’s a thud from the floor above them. Jinwoo doesn’t have to ask Bin to check it out. He does it automatically, ascending the ladder quickly. Jinwoo holds his breath. Maybe it’s the dog. 

 

Jinwoo watches a pair of legs appear from the top of the ladder. They aren’t Bin’s legs, however, and his heart races. They’re screwed if someone else finds the dog. What can he possibly say to explain why there’s a dog on the ship?

 

Suyeon steps off the ladder, smiling. “Hey, Captain. Sorry about that up there. I forgot about the hump in the floor and tripped over it.”

 

Bin steps off the ladder from behind her. “She was heading down to the cargo bay to check on some stuff. I’m going with her.”

 

Suyeon rolls her eyes. “And I told him I can do it myself.”

 

Jinwoo nods. “Go on, both of you. It’ll go faster with two people.” He gives Bin a stern look, knowing Bin will understand.  _ Keep Suyeon in the cargo bay.  _ They’ve checked there for the dog already and hadn’t found it. It’s one of two places he knows is safe.

 

Bin follows Suyeon down the ladder, and Jinwoo listens to them bicker.

 

“Are you sure you don’t like  _ me _ ?” Suyeon teases.

 

Bin scoffs. “Like you? I’m— How could you! I’m your commanding officer, you know.”

 

“I know, but you’re always following me around. If I didn’t know better—”

 

Jinwoo’s watch beeps loudly. He covers it with a hand quickly, only daring to look when the beeping has stopped. It’s a short message, one word, but it drives ice through Jinwoo’s body. 

 

_ Green _ .

 

Cho is ready to meet them. They’d left Jinwoo’s ID on the ransom note so Cho could reach them. It was a risk. There was the chance Cho would’ve turned them in. Jinwoo would’ve been found out immediately. Off-planet Kyklos security would’ve arrived before he even knew it. That short message should bring relief, but Jinwoo’s worry only deepens. They don’t have Cho’s dog. They can’t meet him.

 

Jinwoo climbs to the third level of the ship, running to the CTL room. How much time do they have before Cho will actually reach out to Kyklos security? How much time does he have before Suyeon will find her way back to the CTL rooms as she seems to always do? Jinwoo’s hands shake as he types in Myungjun’s ID. He shuts the CTL room door quietly and swallows the lump in his throat as the system boots up.

 

Jinwoo forgoes a greeting when Myungjun appears solidly in the other half in the room. “We lost the dog.”

 

Myungjun blinks at him. “What?”

 

Jinwoo pushes his hair off his forehead. “Cho’s dog. We needed a way to get him away from everybody else, so we stole his dog. We couldn’t approach him in public because he would know something was off. We couldn’t go into his house because there was more security than we anticipated. So we lured his dog out of his yard and took it. I left it with Sanha and now it’s somewhere on the ship. Cho responded and he’s ready to talk with us, to give us information in return for his dog, but we don’t  _ have  _ the dog. Myungjun, I don’t what to do. I’m kind of freaking out. What if he calls someone? What if—”

 

“Jinnie, relax.”

 

Jinwoo sighs heavily, crossing his arms over his shoulder. Myungjun’s voice calms him in an instant. “I don’t know what to do, so I called you.”

 

“Well, you have to find the dog.”

 

“We’re  _ trying _ . There’s only three of us looking because Bin has to keep Suyeon distracted. She’s not supposed to be on board right now but she  _ is.  _ Jun, what if—”

 

“You know ‘what if’ thinking only ever stops you from going forward.  _ Think _ , Jinwoo.” Myungjun smiles at him. “You’re smart. You’ll figure it out. Cho obviously wants his dog back. That’s why he contacted you in the first place.”

 

Jinwoo nods, staring at the floor. He knows Myungjun is right. Myungjun is always right. The nerves making his blood run quickly disappear. 

 

“Shouldn’t you get back out there and try to find the dog?”

 

Myungjun is right most of the time. Jinwoo shakes his head. “I just want to talk to you for a while. All of this stuff is starting to wear me down. Minhyuk and Sanha are looking for the dog, anyway. They’re closing off spaces they’ve already looked through, so it’s only a matter of time. They work well together, too. Made out a system and got through a quarter of the ship in half an hour.”

 

Myungjun laughs softly. “You say that like the ship is big.”

 

Jinwoo scoffs, a smile coming across his face. “The ship is bigger than you think. It could easily support a crew of 25.”

 

Myungjun rolls his eyes, but Jinwoo can see the feeling behind them. He doesn’t even dare to think it in the moment. There’s too much going on for him to think that four letter word, but he knows it’s true.

 

“How are things for you since we last talked?” Jinwoo sticks his hands in his pockets. “Everything going smoothly?”

 

Myungjun hesitates before nodding. “Yeah, it’s all good.”

 

There’s something else. Jinwoo doesn’t pry. He trusts Myungjun to handle what’s going on, like he always has. “Well, that’s good. We should be back on Mars in a month or two. We’re spending some time on Juno for me and Chaeyoung, then we have some work on Theseus before we’re due back on Mars to get more assignments. It’ll only be a few days, but—”

 

“I can’t wait to see you again.”

 

Jinwoo’s smile mirrors Myungjun’s. “I know. I mean”—he laughs—”I can’t wait to see you, either. Three months is too long. I haven’t actually told the others we’ll be going back so soon. I should probably do that.”

 

Myungjun laughs. “You’re supposed to keep your crew informed! Shame on you, Jinwoo.”

 

Jinwoo shrugs. “It’ll come up eventually. Won’t do most of them any good, though. Bin is the only one from Mars.”

 

“But  _ I’m  _ on Mars.” Myungjun bats his eyelashes. “You’re excited to see me, aren’t you, Jinnie?”

 

How could Jinwoo say no to that? He nods, smiling. “You know I am.”

 

There’s a quick knock on the door. Jinwoo wishes that he could get even five more uninterrupted minutes, but it seems he won’t. It seems he’ll never have enough time with Myungjun as long as he’s on this ship. The door pops open, and Minhyuk sticks his head in.

 

“We have an issue.”

 

Jinwoo glances at Myungjun. He knows Myungjun can see Minhyuk, since his head is within range of the lasers, but Minhyuk doesn’t greet him. He leaves almost as quickly as he entered, not giving Jinwoo a chance to respond, either.

 

“Another conversation cut short,” Jinwoo sighs. “I’ll call you again soon, Jun. I promise.”

 

Myungjun smiles, his eyes turning upwards into the cutest shape Jinwoo has ever seen. “I’ll be here. Be safe out there. Tell me how things go with the dog.”

 

Jinwoo nods. “I will. I promise.”

 

Jinwoo makes quick work of deleting the CTL log after turning it off. Minhyuk is waiting for him at the ladder.

 

“What’s the issue?”

 

“Suyeon found the dog.”

 

“What do you mean Suyeon found the dog?”

 

“I mean Suyeon found the dog. It was hiding in a crate in the cargo bay that got flipped over sometime during travel.”

 

Jinwoo’s chest tightens. He can’t win today.

  
Suyeon is sitting on the floor with Cho’s dog in her lap when the cargo bay doors slide open for Jinwoo and Minhyuk. It used to be a vehicle bay when the ship was a combat vessel, leaving plenty of open space for them to now store crates and supplies. Bin gives them a half wave from where he sits beside Suyeon atop one of the crates.

 

“Can you believe a dog got on board?” Suyeon asks, laughter in her voice as the dog chases her hand.

 

Jinwoo ignores the tightness in his throat. “It’s probably best if we get her off the ship. It’s not safe.”

 

Suyeon stops playing with the dog, dropping her hands into her lap. The dog immediately stops running around, lying between Suyeon’s legs and pressing its face under her hand. Jinwoo wants to appreciate how cute the dog is being, but he can’t. This is worst case scenario.

 

“I wonder who you belong to,” Suyeon hums.

 

Before she can reach the collar and read the name (and possibly put together that the dog belongs to a Kyklos employee), Sanha enters behind Jinwoo and Minhyuk. The dog springs to its feet and runs towards Sanha. 

 

“Baby,” Sanha coos, bending to scoop up the dog. “You guys found her! My aunt would’ve killed me if I couldn’t find her.”

 

Jinwoo thanks whoever is out there for Sanha being quick on his feet.

 

“She’s your aunt’s dog?” Suyeon stands. “Is that why we’re here in the first place?”

 

Sanha eyes Jinwoo before leaning towards Suyeon as if he’s sharing a secret. He nods genuinely. “I’m only supposed to visit immediate family, but we’re in the area and my aunt is sick. That’s why I took her dog for a while.”

 

Suyeon’s face softens and she smiles as she turns to Jinwoo. “You made the call, right?”

 

Jinwoo nods. Hopefully his face doesn’t give away that he’s lying. “Sanha has been asking for a while if we could stop by since he knew we would be in the area. I didn’t think he would bring his aunt’s dog on board, though, so we should get her out of here.”

 

“I’ll go with him back to his aunt’s.” Minhyuk steps toward the door. “Just in case he loses the dog again.”

 

“Good idea. I’ll go, too.” Bin pats Jinwoo’s shoulder as he walks by.

 

Jinwoo waits, tense, as the door slides open and then closes. Suyeon doesn’t speak for a moment. Jinwoo takes advantage of the silence or organize his thoughts. What had they been thinking? As soon as he get the chance, Jinwoo needs to reprimand Sanha for losing the dog— _ and  _ for thinking so quickly.

 

“It’s really nice of you to stop for Sanha,” Suyeon says, patting him on the shoulder. “You’re a good captain.”

 

Jinwoo opens his mouth to respond, but Suyeon saves him the trouble. She walks past him and out of the cargo bay. Alone with the crates, Jinwoo lets his shoulders fall as he breathes out in relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tense chapter!! Make sure you check out [vonseal's](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981921/chapters/35751339) chapter to get the other half of the story!! And, as always, leave me some comments~ What do you think~?


	7. Atlas

****

Sanha reaches back to feel the backpack for probably the hundredth time since they left the Ambition. Luckily, Baby hasn’t barked or made any noises. They have to walk half a mile to where they’re meeting Cho Minsoo. Sanha’s heart vibrates with every step. What if Baby barks? What if they get caught? Sanha knows he’ll freeze in place, like he almost did on Dione Station. He always freezes. He isn’t cut out for this. He grips the straps over his shoulders so tightly his knuckles turn white.

 

Minhyuk’s hand holds his elbow lightly. “You’re drawing attention,” he whispers. “You need to relax.”

 

“How am I supposed to—”

 

“Give me your hand.”

 

“What—”

 

Minhyuk grabs his wrist and yanks his hand off the strap. It burns a little, but Sanha doesn’t get a chance to complain. Minhyuk fits their fingers together. He’s staring straight ahead, but Sanha can only stare at him. Does Minhyuk like him or something? This is the second time they’ve held hands in two days. His stomach swirls with a different kind of nervousness.

 

Halfway to their rendezvous location with Cho Minsoo, Bin glances back at them. He’s breaking protocol, but it looks casual. Sanha knows Bin’s smirk is because he and Minhyuk are still holding hands. His cheeks are pink and his hand in Minhyuk’s is clammy, but Minhyuk doesn’t let go.

 

“Bin saw us—”

 

“Let him look. I don’t care.”

 

Sanha swallows. Maybe Minhyuk really does like him?

 

The hotel where they’re to meet Cho Minsoo is five stories. Bin sits in the lobby, reading a magazine, when Sanha and Minhyuk arrive. That means Cho Minsoo hasn’t arrived yet. Sanha squeezes Minhyuk’s hand without meaning to. He opens his mouth to apologize and Minhyuk’s hand squeezes his back. They go to the elevator, and the mantra Sanha had repeated before leaving echoes in his head.  _ Room 512. Room 512. Room 512. Room 512.  _ The thin woman behind the counter pays them no attention as they walk by her and to the elevator. Minhyuk’s hand is still in his.

 

Sanha call the elevators and they wait. His heart is going to bounce out of his chest. There’s no way it won’t. Minhyuk must sense that, or else what reason would there be for his thumb to be rubbing Sanha’s so gently?

 

The elevator doors slide open and it’s, thankfully, empty. Sanha presses the button for the fifth floor and the  _ close doors  _ button right after. His shoulders droop, and still Minhyuk holds his hand.

 

“Are you—”

 

Minhyuk’s thumb presses hard against his finger. Sanha doesn’t know why, but he knows he has to stay quiet. He keeps his head down. Maybe Minhyuk spotted a camera? They chose this hotel specifically for its lack of high security, but there was always the chance they overlooked something.

 

The elevator stops on the second floor. Sanha’s breath catches in his throat as he presses into Minhyuk’s side.

 

An older man and woman wait outside the elevator. “Going down?”

 

Sanha can’t speak.

 

“Up,” Minhyuk says shortly. His thumb rubs over Sanha’s again.

 

The woman eyes their hands, smirking. “Okay. Thanks, darling.”

 

Minhyuk presses the  _ close doors  _ button. It takes a moment, but they’re moving again. Minhyuk breaks the silence between them.

 

“Doing okay?”

 

Sanha shakes his head.

 

“We’re almost there.”

 

The elevator wants to drag out Sanha’s anxiety. It takes an abnormally long time to reach the fifth floor. When they do, Minhyuk tugs him into the hallway before letting their hands fall apart. Sanha almost grabs Minhyuk’s hand again. Almost.

 

Right and then left down a hall leads them to room 512. Minhyuk knocks on the door in a pattern. It swings open for them, Jinwoo on the other side. None of them speak until the door is shut.

 

“What if he doesn’t show?” Minhyuk asks right away.

 

Sanha squats, unzipping the backpack. Baby bounds out almost right away. She goes to the bathroom door, sniffing the bottom of it.

 

“He’ll show.” Jinwoo seems certain. “He would’ve turned us in by now if he was going to.”

 

Jinwoo’s confidence quells some of the anxiety in Sanha’s stomach, but not all of it.

 

Minhyuk sits on the single bed in the room, his nose wrinkling at the way it squeaks. “Why do the most disgusting places have to be the least secure? Why can’t there be a nicely taken care of hotel with no security? Do you have any idea what types of people stay in hotels like this? Do you know what kind of stuff has probably happened on this bed?”

  
Sanha blushes. “It’s just a bed.”

 

Minhyuk looks at him pointedly. Sanha can’t hold his gaze, so he looks at Baby and snaps to get her attention.

 

Five minutes later, there’s patterned knocking on the door. Jinwoo gives Sanha and Minhyuk a signal to be silent despite them not talking. Sanha holds Baby by her collar.

 

Cho Minsoo walks into the room, followed by Bin. When first seeing Cho Minsoo, Sanha hadn’t been terribly impressed. He isn’t tall or wide set. He looks like an average guy. Sanha supposes it’s best for an average looking guy to be the one with the secrets. He glances at Minhyuk. Minhyuk isn’t average looking, but he must have secrets anyway, right?

 

“Sit there,” Jinwoo says in his Captain voice. 

 

Minhyuk moves off the bed, allowing all the space to be occupied by Cho Minsoo. Sanha stays squatting in place, gently holding the collar of the sleeping, captive dog, as Minhyuk stands beside him.

 

“My Baby,” Cho Minsoo coos. He takes a step towards Baby.

 

Bin grabs him by the back of his shirt. “Sit. Talk. Then you can have your dog.”

 

In Cho Minsoo’s place, Sanha knows he would be terrified. The man must be smart, because he follows orders. He takes a seat on the bed. Jinwoo retrieves the small camera from his pocket, flipping it on.

 

Before they left, they had agreed on guidelines. None of them are to be in the shot. Bin is the only one who will talk. Once they hand over the video containing the confession from Cho Minsoo to their rebellion superiors, Bin’s voice will be edited so much that it’ll be undistinguishable. Even so, worry twists Sanha’s gut.

 

Minhyuk squats beside him, resting a steady hand on Sanha’s upper back. It’s not much, but it calms Sanha anyway.

 

“Recording?” Bin asks. Jinwoo nods.

 

Bin folds his arms over his chest, staring at Cho Minsoo. The latter has drawn into himself, shoulders hunched and hands held tightly in his lap.

 

“State your name and position within the Kyklos Syndicate.”

 

Cho Minsoo swallows. “My name is Cho Minsoo. I’m on a team of intelligence managers.”

 

“What’s your clearance level?”

 

“Gamma.”

 

Sanha’s brows shoot upwards. Gamma is the third highest clearance level. He’s fairly certain Myungjun, who also works in intelligence, only has Kappa level clearance, placing him at sixth. Jinwoo is only at rank eight with Sigma clearance. If Cho Minsoo has Gamma clearance, just how much does he know?

 

“You were caught in a lie about documents regarding the Europa real estate program. Elaborate.”

 

“On the program?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m not supposed to—”

 

Bin points across the room to Sanha holding Baby’s collar. Cho Minsoo follows his finger. He swallows, curling more into himself.

 

“The Europa real estate program has been in development for a decade. There are new, private housing sectors being built on Europa. Look, I don’t know what you want me to tell you, but—”

 

“Tell us who’s living in these private sectors.”

 

Sanha knows, so he knows Cho Minsoo does too. They’ve known for quite some time, but they haven’t had any physical evidence to prove it. Now they will.

 

Cho Minsoo sighs, staring at his legs. “Leaders of organized crime among assorted criminals.”

 

“Like who? I want names.”

 

“Oh Kwan.”

 

“The drug lord.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Who else?”

 

“Park Jungwook. Alice Cheng.”

 

“The culprits of the assassination of one of Pluto’s district presidents last year. I thought they were in prison.”

 

Cho Minsoo shakes his head.

 

“Who got them out of prison and is now housing them on Europa?”

 

Cho Minsoo doesn’t say anything. Bin snaps, and Cho Minsoo raises his head to stare at him.

 

“Please,” Cho Minsoo pleads. “I’ll lose my life. I can’t— I swore an oath.  _ I’ll  _ go to prison.”

 

“Who got Park Jungwook and Alice Cheng out of prison and is now housing them on Europa?”

 

“Kyklos.”

 

“ _ Who  _ in Kyklos?”

 

Sanha holds his breath. They’ll get new information. They haven’t had any big names yet.

 

“I can’t—”

 

“Give me a name.”

 

Cho Minsoo stares at the camera, at Jinwoo, at Bin, and then at Baby. Sanha sees his will crack.

 

“Lee Wonshik.”

 

Bin tenses visibly, even taking a step forward. Jinwoo reaches out and grabs his arm before he can move much further. Minhyuk’s hand grabs the back of Sanha’s shirt tightly, but Sanha knows better than to break the silence and ask.

 

Bin composes himself, taking back his step and standing tall. “What do you know about the situation on planets like Leda and moons like Helen and Deimos?”

 

Cho Minsoo’s eyes widen. “How do you know—”

 

“ _ I’m  _ asking the questions.” 

 

Bin’s hands tighten into fists at his sides. Sanha has never seen Bin throw a single punch. Bin has always been composed, keeping his feelings pushed to the side any time they do something against Kyklos. Something has gotten to him, though. Sanha searches his memories for the name Lee Wonshik as he waits for Cho Minsoo to speak again.

 

“Factory planets. Kyklos uses them as factories.”

 

“And the people who live there? You know how they’re treated, don’t you?”

 

Minhyuk’s hand grabs Sanha’s shirt tighter. Sanha looks at him. His jaw is clenched, eyes dark and focused on Cho Minsoo. 

 

Sanha touches Minhyuk’s arm gently, drawing his attention. Minhyuk’s eyes land on him. The darkness—the  _ rage _ —within his eyes fades away. His fingers slip between Sanha’s once again. Sanha reminds himself to keep quiet despite the hundreds of questions caught in his throat.

 

“They have food, they have water. Their housing is free. The conditions aren’t ideal, but it’s a factory situation—”

 

“Liar. You know what it’s like. Tell the truth.”

 

Cho Minsoo tenses. “I don’t have to tell you anything. I could start screaming and Kyklos security agents would be here in minutes.”

 

Bin freezes in place. “Security is off planet. How could they be here in minutes?”

 

Cho Minsoo’s eyes widen. “I didn’t—”

 

“Tell me. Now.”

 

Cho Minsoo swallows. “You don’t understand. I made a mistake. I misspoke.”

 

Bin rushes forward, definitely in view of the camera. He grabs the front of Cho Minsoo’s shirt, yanking him to his feet. Minhyuk makes a move to get up but Sanha squeezes his hand to stop him. Bin broke protocol. The rest of them have to keep their heads.

 

“You will tell me what you now right now or I swear on everything in the universe, I will  _ beat  _ it out of you.”

 

Sanha bites his tongue. Minhyuk grips his hand tighter.  _ This isn’t how things were supposed to go _ . Jinwoo can’t do anything, either, though Sanha notices him angling the camera as best as he can to keep Bin mostly out of the shot.

 

“The Kyklos security sector is everywhere,” Cho Minsoo blurts, eyes squeezed shut. “They’re everywhere.”

 

Bin shoves Cho Minsoo back down onto the bed, releasing his shirt and taking enough steps to be out of the camera’s view.

 

“Say that again,” Bin demands, hands on his hips.

 

Cho Minsoo flattens his shirt. “The Kyklos security sector is stationed on every planet. They’re a standing army. They could be your neighbors, your friends. If you have family in the Kyklos security sector, they could be spying on you. Kyklos knows what happens everywhere. They know who’s working both sides. They’ll know you lot soon enough.” Cho Minsoo looks at all of them. “I’ve memorized your faces. Kyklos will know—”

 

Bin rushes forward once more. This time he swings, his fist connecting with Cho Minsoo’s face. Perhaps it’s the tone of their voices as Bin shouts and Jinwoo drags Bin back by his shoulders, perhaps she’s been asleep too long, but Baby springs up. Sanha keeps a tight hold on her as Minhyuk lunges for the discarded camera, shutting off the recording.

 

“We have to go,” Minhyuk hisses. “ _ Now _ .”

 

Baby begins to bark, and Sanha knows Minhyuk is right. The four of them are out of the room quickly. Minhyuk leads, Sanha behind him. Bin runs in front of Jinwoo as they rush to the emergency exit stairs. They don’t stop running, either. None of them stops until they’re on the ship, the main door shut and locked.

 

“Guys?”

 

They simultaneously turn to face Chaeyoung, who is staring at them in shock.

 

“Did something happen?”

 

Jinwoo doesn’t answer her question. “Is everybody on board?”

 

“Uh, yeah. What’s—”

 

Jinwoo’s Captain mode flips on like a light. “Sanha, prep engines. Bin, get everybody to the bridge for take off. Minhyuk, turn off communications.”

 

Chaeyoung doesn’t move from her place in front of the ladder. “Turn off communications? Captain, what’s going on?”

 

“That was an  _ order _ , Chae.” Jinwoo points at the ladder. “Go. Now.”

 

They’re thrown into action by the force of Jinwoo’s words. For the second time in three days, Sanha rushes to prep the ship for take off. They’re full on gas this time, thankfully. Sookyung falls into the chair beside him.  _ She’s training for the security sector, too _ . Cho Minsoo’s words echo in his head. He can’t think about that now. The crew is buckling into their seats behind him. In this moment, Sanha is just a first pilot of a Kyklos cargo ship named the Ambition. Though he repeats the sentiment over and over, his thoughts are still scattered.

 

“Sanha, are we ready for take off?”

 

Jinwoo’s voice only drives more tension through his muscles. “Not yet, sir. Engines aren’t online yet.”

 

“Get them online!”

 

Sanha knows the yelling is just from general tension and not necessarily directed at him, but it stings in his chest anyway. He stares at the monitors. Sookyung stares at him.  _ What if she’s a spy? What if she knows what we’re doing?  _ The computer beeps at him, and Sanha throws the ship into forward.

 

Nobody moves even when their flight has evened out. Sanha doesn’t give the go ahead and neither does Jinwoo. They fly in complete silence for fifteen minutes before Jinwoo breaks the silence.

 

“Dismissed,” Jinwoo says curtly. “Sanha, set us for the stargate on the other side of Carme.”

 

Sanha sets the coordinates quickly before unbuckling, leaving Sookyung to manage the bridge. In his haste, he pushes past Minhyuk and Hyunseo and Bin, running towards the nearest bathroom. He’s going to be sick.

 

Sanha slams the bathroom door behind himself, sinking to the hard, metal floor. They’re so screwed. Cho Minsoo is going to report them. He’ll report them and Sanha will end up in jail. What will his parents think of him? What if his parents are taken away, too? Sanha wraps his arms around his legs, pressing his face into his knees.

 

The door pops open after a few minutes. He must have forgotten to lock it. Minhyuk stands above him with watchful eyes. Sanha stares at his reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. The door shuts gently and Minhyuk sits beside him, back against the door.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

 

“We’re going to jail.”

 

“Sanha—”

 

“You heard him. You heard Cho Minsoo. He said he memorized our faces. He’s going to report us and we’re going to go to jail. I can’t go to jail! I’m only nineteen! I won’t survive in—”

 

Minhyuk presses a hand over his mouth, staring at him with brows drawn together. “You have to keep your voice down. The others are all on board. We can’t have them asking questions, too.”

 

Sanha swallows, nodding slowly. Minhyuk pulls his hand away.

 

“Anyway, we won’t go to jail,” Minhyuk says softly. “Or at least you won’t. You haven’t actually done anything. If anybody does, it’ll be Bin.”

 

Sanha chews on the inside of his cheek. “I don’t want any of us to go to jail. I just want us to be normal and pretend we don’t know anything we know. Sometimes I wish you guys had never told me what was going on. Sometimes I wish I could just— I wish I could forget everything.”

 

“Hey, no.” Minhyuk scoots closer to him and rests a hand on his shoulder. “Living in ignorance isn’t any better than living in danger. At least you know what’s going on out here. Would it really be better if you didn’t know?”

 

Sanha nods.

 

“What if knowing could keep you  _ out  _ of danger?”

 

Sanha frowns. “How could knowing keep me out of danger?”

 

“Well, you know who you can trust. Like Jinwoo, Bin. You can trust me. You know that, right?”

 

Sanha nods slowly.

 

“If we were just crew members together, you wouldn’t know me as well as you do, right?”

 

Sanha supposes Minhyuk is right. 

 

“We probably wouldn’t be as close of friends as we are, either. And that would suck, wouldn’t it?”

 

Sanha laughs softly, nodding. “Yeah, it would suck.”

 

“Damn right it would.” Minhyuk grins. “See? Knowing  _ is  _ better.”

 

There’s a short knock on the door. Minhyuk scoots out of the way, getting to his knees to open the door. Bin’s head sticks in the small gap created and his eyes immediately go to Sanha.

 

“You okay?” Bin asks. “You ran off the bridge like you were gonna be sick.”

 

Sanha nods, smiling at Bin then at Minhyuk. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

 

“Good. Jinwoo wants us to meet him in the CTL room. He’s instructed the rest of the crew to stay away. We’re all going to talk to MJ.”

 

Sanha follows Bin up the ladder and down the hall. Jinwoo emerges from one of the two CTL rooms, eyes downcast. A bad feeling sticks to Sanha’s ribs and makes it hard to breathe.

 

“What’s happening?” Minhyuk asks. “You look like—”

 

“Shit,” Bin says bluntly. “Did MJ not answer?”

 

Jinwoo shakes his head. “He isn’t answering. I’ve called three times already.” Jinwoo’s jaw tightens.

 

“Well, maybe he’s just busy.” Sanha nods. “Yeah, he’s probably busy.”

 

Jinwoo seems sure something is wrong. He shakes his head again. “He never misses a call. If he does, he returns it in five minutes, and it’s been more than that already.”

 

“I’m sure it’s no big deal.” Bin pats Jinwoo on the shoulder.

 

Sanha’s heart flies into his throat when Jinwoo shakes off Bin’s hand.

 

“This isn’t the time to be taking things lightly, Bin. You screwed up—”

 

“You think I don’t know that?”

 

“Guys, don’t.” Minhyuk steps between them, one hand on each of them. “The last thing we need right now is to start fighting each other. Nobody wins when a team starts fighting amongst themselves.”

 

“We just need to focus on what’s ahead of us!” Sanha says. His voice sounds more hopeful than he thought it would. “We’re going to Juno, Jinwoo!”

 

“ _ Captain _ ,” Jinwoo hisses, eyeing him. “Why won’t you learn?”

 

Sanha ducks his head with a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

 

“Minhyuk is right.” Bin takes a step back, Minhyuk’s hand falling away from his chest. “I’m sorry for what I did, Jinwoo.”

 

“ _ Captain _ ,” Jinwoo groans. He leans around Minhyuk to stare at Bin. “You’re just asking for a beating now.”

 

Bin smirks. “If your short legs can catch me.”

 

“Cooking duty for two weeks.”

 

“Woah!” Minhyuk faces Jinwoo completely. “Let’s not make any rash decisions. You know what happened the last time Bin cooked.”

 

Sanha can’t keep himself from smiling. Though his heart is heavy with worry, he knows they’ll make it through this. They haven’t been a team for long but he knows they can figure out a way to fix their mistakes and forgive one another. That’s the only way they’ll survive together, and they have to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! So, update. My computer has unfortunately decided to take a dive into Broken Land, so I can’t write anymore. (I’m even posting this from my phone, so sorry if there are formatting (or other) errors!) Honestly not sure how soon I’ll get the chance to write again, so it appears the fic is going on a mini hiatus. It won’t be more than a few weeks, I promise!!
> 
> In the mean time, be sure to read @vonseal’s half of this to find out what’s going on back on Mars~ and you can catch me on Twitter @snibwrites. We’ll be back soon, I promise!


	8. Gliese System

_ Lee Wonshik. _

 

The name continues to echo in Bin’s head a full day after their encounter with Minsoo. He stares at the CTL panel sticking out of the wall as he has fifty times before now. Walking to the rooms is pointless. He can’t tell Dongmin what he learned. He doesn’t  _ want  _ to tell Dongmin what he learned. What would Dongmin say if Bin suddenly accused his father of being a criminal? Bin had screwed up their relationship enough already. Even so, Bin continues to return to the CTL room, finding comfort in the thought of talking to Dongmin again. He can’t talk to Dongmin. He couldn’t even if he could since Jinwoo still has their communications offline.

 

Bin heads towards the bridge. What would it be like to have Dongmin by his side, aboard the Ambition? Would he like it? Dongmin had said before, as they sat under the stars together rather than take part in the party, that he couldn’t imagine living among the stars. Was it because he didn’t think he would enjoy it or was it because he never thought he’d have the opportunity?

 

The bridge is empty. Bin walks all the way to the front of the bridge, sitting so close to the large glass window he sees only stars and the shine of the star gate in the distance. What will the rebellion do with the information about Dongmin’s father? Bin rests his elbows on his knees. Whatever they choose to do, Bin hopes they’ll leave Dongmin out of it. He may share the same blood but Bin is confident Dongmin would never follow in his father’s footsteps. 

 

He wouldn’t, right?

 

_ Lee Wonshik.  _ Bin sighs. He’d met Mr. Lee several times before, though only in passing. As director of shipping and transportation, Mr. Lee was in charge of their routes and assignments. He oversaw the training of everybody who was trying to get into the sector. Bin had sat in Mr. Lee’s seminar with at least a hundred others his age, mostly uninterested in joining the ranks of Kyklos but forced to be there as a high school student.

 

“This is not a job of the rich,” Mr. Lee had said. “You will work hard. You won’t have much time to see your family. Your crew will  _ become  _ your family. Out there, though, you will see the stars. You’ll see planets and moons you could never dream of.”

 

Mr. Lee’s words had been enough to convince Bin. He’d always wanted to see the stars, but he didn’t know how to make his dreams reality until Mr. Lee showed him the path. Perhaps Mr. Lee’s indirect involvement in getting Bin to where he is now is why his involvement in Kyklos’ illegal activity hurts so much.

 

Darkness blacks out the stars to the left of the ship. Bin blinks in confusion before registering the darkness as another, much larger ship. There are no markings on the side of the ship. In fact, it’s a strange build. Kyklos ships should be the only ones in this area, but this is not a Kyklos ship. It’s not a standard Kyklos ship, at least. Unless—

 

Bin is on his feet before the first impact, which makes him stumble. “Jinwoo!” he shouts, running for the door of the bridge. 

 

He doesn’t have to wait long for a response, thankfully. Jinwoo skids around the corner before a second impact sends him into the wall.

 

“Who’s firing on us?” Jinwoo runs onto the bridge, as close to the window as he dares.

 

A third impact shakes the ship harder, both of them falling to their knees under the force of it.

 

“Unmarked ship. It’s not Kyklos, and there’s only one other ship that would be in this area.”

 

Jinwoo swears. Minhyuk joins them on the bridge, followed by Suyeon and Hyunseo. There’s panic written across Jinwoo’s face as he stares at them. Bin has never seen Jinwoo so alarmed. It strikes cold fear into his chest. After their win on Atlas, they’re being fired upon by a combat vessel operated by a team serving the people they went to Atlas for. There’s no way they can announce themselves without making the entire crew suspicious.

 

“Hail the ship,” Jinwoo says sternly to Suyeon. “Why didn’t they contact us first?”

 

“Communications have been off since we left Atlas, sir.” Suyeon straps into a chair behind a console.

 

“Everybody”—the ship rocks with another impact, and there’s a shout from beyond the bridge—”buckle into your seats.”

 

Bin frowns, gripping the edge of a console. “What about the others? They’re still roaming the ship, probably trying to make their way here.”

 

“I have to think about those I  _ can _ protect. Buckle in. Now.”

 

Bin follows orders and straps into the nearest seat. Minhyuk straps in beside him, and immediately leans toward him.

 

“It’s one of ours, isn’t it?” he hisses. Bin’s stomach tightens with anxiety. Someone could  _ hear _ them.

 

“Communications are operational, sir,” Suyeon states. “Establishing link with the other ship.”

 

The only sign their request for communication has been accepted is a burst of static. Nobody from the other ship utters a word.

 

Jinwoo sits up in his seat, gripping the edge of the console before him. “This is Captain Park Jinwoo of the Kyklos Cargo Ship Ambition.” The ship rocks with an impact. “We are  _ not  _ a combat vessel. I repeat we are  _ not  _ a combat vessel. This ship”—the ship shakes with another hit—”does not have functioning weapons and is only equipped with minimal defense. Cease fire immediately.”

 

There’s a quiet moment where Bin thinks they’re clear before the ship rocks violently once more. Sookyung and Sebin have joined them on the bridge. Bin glances into the hall, spotting a crew member crumpled on the floor under the ladder.

 

“This is Captain Park Jinwoo of the Ambition,” Jinwoo repeats. “Cease fire immediately.”

 

Bin swallows thickly as another impact almost splits their ship. This is how it’ll be. He won’t get the chance to apologize to Dongmin. They won’t be able to hand the information over to the rebellion. The last three months were for nothing. They’ll either be found out by the crew and reported to Kyklos, or the rebellion ship will continue to fire on them until their hull cracks or their systems malfunction.

 

Jinwoo swears again, a common habit of his during stressful situations, and his voice is louder when he speaks. “This is the captain of the Ambition speaking, hailing whoever is in charge of the ship firing on us. I have clearance code Romeo-Uniform-Lima.”

 

Bin chokes on air.  _ Clearance code rebellion unit leader.  _ Jinwoo is revealing their position as part of the rebellion. The ship shudders with another hit. Minhyuk stares at him with wide eyes and mouths, “What is Jinwoo doing?”

 

“I’m operating under code Echo-India-Sierra-Alpha.”  _ Enemy infiltration squad alpha. _ “Cease fire immediately. Note warning code Kilo-Alpha-Bravo.”  _ Kyklos aligned on board. _

 

The few seconds of silence directly following Jinwoo’s words stretches into a minute. Bin’s stomach sinks at the sound of a crew member yelling for help beyond the bridge. The body crumpled in the hall— Is that  _ Sanha _ ? Bin reaches for his belt, but he knows better than to move in this situation. Jinwoo would leave him on whatever planet they stopped on next if he got out of his seat. Minhyuk doesn’t seem to have noticed Sanha yet.

 

The static sounds once more before a strong voice comes through the bridge speaker. “This is Captain Smith”—the foreign language is echoed in Korean by the bud in Bin’s ear—”with clearance code Romeo-Foxtrot-Lima.” 

 

_ Rebellion fleet leader.  _ They were attacked by one of the higher ranking captains of the rebellion’s “army.” Bin grips the belts across his chest tightly.

 

“State your name and clearance code,” Captain Smith requests.

 

“I am Captain Park Jinwoo of the Kyklos Cargo Ship Ambition.”

 

Bin observes the others. They all stare at Jinwoo with confusion in their eyes. Every possible question from the crew floods his mind. Hopefully, a single answer will quell their suspicions and confusion.  _ It’s classified. _

 

“I have clearance code Romeo-Uniform-Lima.”

 

There’s another cry for help from beyond the bridge. Bin holds his breath in the silence. The Ambition groans, followed by a distant popping noise and a hiss. Minhyuk unclips one of the belts across his chest, eyes glued to Sanha still crumpled on the floor outside the bridge. A stern look from Jinwoo stops him from moving more.

 

“Clearance validated. Proceed.”

 

Static signals the end of the communication. Bin’s fingers fly over the straps on his chest, but Minhyuk beats him out of his seat. He joins him only a few seconds later, but Minhyuk has already helped Sanha sit up against the wall.

 

“Are you okay?” Minhyuk asks, words colored with worry. “Are you hurt?”

 

“Minhyuk, engines and systems check.” Jinwoo’s order comes from on the bridge, followed by several other commands towards the rest of the crew.

 

Minhyuk glances from Sanha to Bin. No words are needed. Bin had seen them on Atlas. He knows Minhyuk cares for Sanha, and the younger for him as well. Bin gives Minhyuk a stern nod, a silent promise to take care of Sanha. Minhyuk touches Sanha’s shoulder gently before taking off to do his job.

 

Bin squats beside Sanha and runs over the checklist in his head. “Hey, can you tell me your name?”

 

Sanha rubs his head. “Uh.” He stares at Bin. “Sanha. Yoon Sanha.”

 

_ He might have a concussion.  _ “Right. Do you know where we are?”

 

Sanha pauses, eyes squinting and brows coming together. “The, uh— The Ambition. Gliese system. What— Were we attacked?”

 

Bin doesn’t answer. He doesn’t want to worry Sanha before he knows he’s okay. “How are you feeling?”

 

“My head hurts like a—”

 

“Bin.” Sebin is barely visible from his spot hanging onto the ladder, coming up from the lower deck. “I need you in cargo. A crate fell on Chaeyoung and her leg is stuck. I can’t get it off.”

 

Sanha’s eyes widen. “Chaeyoung? Is she okay?”

 

Bin pats Sanha’s leg. “Don’t worry about that, okay? Let’s get you into a bed in med bay. Do you think you can stand for me?”

 

Sanha nods. With some help from Bin, Sanha makes it to the med bay and up onto a bed. Bin leaves for a split second, calling Soeun and Sookyung in from the bridge for help.

 

“Keep an eye on him,” Bin tells Soeun. “I think he has a concussion. You passed first aid training, so take care of him while I handle Chaeyoung. Sookyung, go to fabrication and print a leg brace. Chaeyoung’s measurements are in the computer. Bring it to the cargo hold when it’s done.”

 

Sookyung nods once before leaving. Bin grabs a first aid kit and, after one last glance at Sanha, heads down to the cargo hold. His heart rate increases with every rung. This is not how he expected the day to go. They were supposed to catch a break. It was supposed to be easy sailing at least for the next week. He was supposed to have time to catch his breath and process the last week and a half.

 

Instead, he’s setting the first aid kit aside as he lifts the crate off Chaeyoung’s leg with Sebin’s help and she yells in pain. Instead, he’s cutting open the leg of her pants to see the damage. Instead, he’s caught in a flurry of activity. Instead, he’s forced to shove his personal wants and needs to the side once again. He is second in command of the Ambition. He is the chief medical officer of the Ambition. Those roles have to come before his personal life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to read vonseal's part to get the rest of the story~


	9. Alpha Centauri System

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proofread, please be kind

Sanha sighs for the thousandth time in an hour. The ship is quiet now after all the commotion from earlier, and he hears Sookyung apologizing a million times a minute as she tries to setup the navigation system to take them to Juno. Sanha doesn’t know why Jinwoo doesn’t just do it on his own. Sure, Sookyung should know how to do it as relief pilot, but Jinwoo is far more qualified to set their coordinates. Soeun, assistant navigator among the crew, would do a better job than Sookyung, too.  _ Jinwoo must want to make it a learning moment _ , Sanha thinks. The learning moment has lasted half an hour already.

 

Not being allowed to go to the bridge himself is more frustrating than listening to Jinwoo and Sookyung on the bridge. He has a sprained ankle and a minor concussion, not a broken leg and bruised ribs like Chaeyoung. His head still hurts and he’s been tired and a little dizzy (obvious signs of a concussion, according to Bin), but he’s better off than Chaeyoung. Sanha glances at her in the second bed over. She’s sitting up, but her head has rolled onto her shoulder since she fell asleep. All of the crew has been in and out of the med bay in the last ten or so hours. Hyunseo had sat beside Sanha for half an hour before Bin cleared him to leave. Minhyuk had been in not long after they went through the star gate. Sanha can still feel the impression of Minhyuk’s fingers around his. Bin had been adamant about keeping Minhyuk out, but it had been nearly impossible. Sanha’s stomach squeezes with the thought. Bin and Sebin had checked over the entire crew after the chaos of running into a rebellion ship, so the med bay had been busy for a short time before turning into the desolate landscape it is now.

 

It’s too bad he couldn’t see the ship for himself. He’d tried to go to the bridge, but the ship had rocked and he’d lost his balance before falling almost all the way down the ladder. He’d even been awake enough to hear Jinwoo giving out codes, but he couldn’t push himself up or make his way onto the bridge to see the ship.

 

Being part of the rebellion scares Sanha sometimes. There are powerful people that could make him disappear if he ever got discovered. However, Sanha can’t imagine doing anything else, especially when he sees how passionate Minhyuk is about the cause. He doesn’t know much about what Minhyuk went through growing up, but it must have been bad. Sanha hopes Minhyuk will feel comfortable enough to share the details of his childhood with him one day.

 

Jinwoo groans from the bridge. “Come on, Soo, you need to get this memorized. You’ll never pass your flight test if you can’t get it down.”

 

_ It’s because you’re a bad teacher, Jinwoo.  _ Sanha giggles to himself, slapping a hand over his mouth and checking to see if he woke Chaeyoung. He didn’t, thankfully, and he relaxes back into the pillows propped up for him. Someone else needs to come into the room. With Chaeyoung asleep, Sanha has nobody to talk to. It’s a lonely life for Sanha in the med bay.

 

Another muffled apology from Sookyung followed by a brief promise to try harder next time has Sanha swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He’s careful not to set weight on his left foot as he uses the bed and the wall as crutches. He only makes it a few steps out of the infirmary before he’s stopped.

 

Minhyuk grabs the side of his shirt from behind. “What are you doing? Bin said to keep your ankle elevated.”

 

“Sookyung is having issues setting coordinates. I thought I would help her. I can stand on the deck up here, and—”

 

“No way. Get back in bed.” Minhyuk looks at him seriously.

 

Sanha looks down at Minhyuk and holds back a snarky comment. He appreciates Minhyuk caring so much about him getting better, but he doesn’t want to stay confined to the med bay the entire time his ankle hurts or has a headache. He’s inclined to give in, though. The way Minhyuk cares so much is actually kind of cute.  _ He’s cute _ . Sanha averts his eyes, looking down the hall.

 

“It would be better if I taught her,” Sanha says. “I’m supposed to be the one training her, anyway, since I’m first pilot.”

 

“You’re  _ injured _ .” 

 

“So what? I need to help.”

 

Minhyuk wraps an arm around his waist and ducks to put Sanha’s arm around his shoulders. Whatever focus Sanha had on Sookyung and Jinwoo on the bridge disappears immediately. He doesn’t have his mind about him enough to resist as Minhyuk turns their bodies and begins to help him the short distance back into the med bay. 

 

_ He’s so warm _ . Sanha is acutely aware of every shift of Minhyuk’s body beside his. When Minhyuk slides out from under his arm right beside the bed, Sanha isn’t sure if he should thank him or complain that he could’ve gotten back to the bed on his own. In his hesitation, Minhyuk helps him sit on the bed, gently helping lift him. Sanha is more than capable of sitting on the bed on his own, but he doesn’t stop Minhyuk from helping him do that, either.

 

_ Flirt with him _ , the voice in his head demands. Sanha ignores it.

 

His legs hang off the bed freely. Minhyuk points at the stack of pillows at the foot of the bed with a pointed look at Sanha. With a sigh, Sanha swings himself around and plants his foot on top of the pillows.

 

“Good,” Minhyuk says. “Now stay there.”

 

Sanha huffs. “Do you know how boring it is in here?” he whispers. “Chaeyoung is sleeping so I can’t talk to her or yell for someone to keep me company. Minhyuk, really, I just need five minutes to teach Sookyung.”

 

Minhyuk picks up a chair in the other corner of the room and sets it carefully at the side of Sanha’s bed. He plants himself in it and looks at Sanha.

 

“Now you’re not alone,” he says, a smile in his words. “I’ll keep you company.”

 

Sanha frowns. “You can’t keep me in here the whole time.”

 

“Sure I can.” Minhyuk leans back in the chair and folds his arms over his chest. “I’m going to sit right here and make sure you don’t leave this bed until you’re completely healed.”

 

“Bin said I have to do therapy for my ankle.”

 

“You can do that without getting out of the bed.”

 

“But—”

 

“You two bicker like a couple.”

 

Sanha whips his head around to look at Chaeyoung. She’s observing them thoughtfully, head tilted to the side and a small smile on her lips.

 

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you two were dating.” She pauses. “ _ Are  _ you?”

 

“What?” Sanha asks loudly, sitting up in the bed as a sudden panic takes over his body and turns his cheeks pink. “No! We’re just friends! Right, Minhyuk?”

 

Sanha looks at Minhyuk quickly. There’s a flash of an expression Sanha can’t name in the moment before Minhyuk nods.

 

“Sanha’s right,” Minhyuk says, eyes trained on Chaeyoung. “We’re just friends.”

 

Chaeyoung hums. “If you say so.”

 

“We do!” Sanha whines. “We’re just friends. Don’t think—”

 

“Good, you’re awake.” Bin leans against the doorframe. “Chae, how are you feeling?”

 

“My leg is on fire, but I’m good otherwise.” Chaeyoung points at Sanha and Minhyuk, though she looks at Bin. “Do you think they’re dating?”

 

Bin’s brows rise as he glances from Chaeyoung to Sanha and then Minhyuk. “That’s, uh— I don’t know how to answer that.”

 

Minhyuk clears his throat and stands. “I’m going to get some food. I’ll be back later.”

 

_ He was disappointed.  _

 

Sanha watches Minhyuk slip past Bin without looking at him.

 

_ That was disappointment on his face earlier when I said we were just friends _ .

 

Sanha leans back on his pillows, neck tilted at a strange but not uncomfortable angle as Bin checks on them both. Minhyuk returns before Bin leaves and sits on the chair as he had been before. He tosses a bag of dried fruit onto the bed.

 

“You need to eat to keep your strength up so you heal faster,” Minhyuk says. His eyes are trained on the bag in his own hand.

 

Sanha wants to apologize. He wants to tell Minhyuk he didn’t realize saying they were just friends would bother him so much. Chaeyoung is wide awake and Bin is still in the room, however, so Sanha takes the bag of dried fruit with a quiet thanks.

 

Maybe he read it wrong. Maybe it wasn’t disappointment he’d seen on Minhyuk’s face. Could it have been relief? Sanha’s stomach squeezes uncomfortably. Hopefully it hadn’t been relief. He likes Minhyuk. He might not be ready to admit it publicly just yet, but he doesn’t want Minhyuk to  _ not _ like him back. A sigh catches in Sanha’s throat. A cargo ship in the middle of space isn’t the place he thought romance would bloom. 

 

Sanha only eats half of his bag before setting it aside to lay down and stare at the ceiling of the med bay. It would be better if Minhyuk didn’t like him back. Sanha can keep his feelings to himself and Minhyuk can keep his feelings to  _ himself _ . They can keep going on as friends. They won’t have to worry about accidentally making things complicated or the crew operating weirdly around them. He glances at Minhyuk and his chest tightens.  _ I want him to like me, but it would be better if he didn’t _ . Sanha has to be like the rest of them and put the mission first no matter what his heart is begging for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sanha + Minhyuk = cutest couple.
> 
> Be sure to check out vonseal's part as well!


	10. Juno

The elevator doors rattle as they open, revealing Bin and Chaeyoung inside. Jinwoo bites back the excitement trying to spill out of him in favor of turning around the wheelchair so Chaeyoung can sit. She hasn’t had the easiest time aboard the _ Ambition _ . As Captain, it’s Jinwoo’s responsibility to make sure she makes it off the ship and into the care of doctors who can help her leg. Jinwoo pushes the chair as Bin walks beside him. Each step brings him closer to the end of the corridor, closer to the familiar air and sky of Juno. It’s been a year he’s been gone. Their more than three months in space follow Jinwoo’s eight months of training on Mars. Jinwoo has to remind himself this is Chaeyoung’s home, too, and he should be considerate of her feelings at the moment.

“Are you excited to be back home?” he asks.

Chaeyoung sighs. “I’m more excited to see my family than I am about getting my leg fixed.”

Bin whistles lowly. “You must love your family. Captain, you’re from Juno, too, right?”

“Yeah.” Jinwoo smiles. “Home sweet home.”

There’s a small crowd waiting for them outside the landing terminal. Jinwoo doesn’t have to wait long before the wheelchair is pulled out of his hands by a woman he assumes is Chaeyoung’s mother. Another woman thanks him for taking care of Chaeyoung. A man smiles warmly at him.

Bin bumps Jinwoo gently. “Go to your family. I can handle Chaeyoung.”

Jinwoo takes one step to the side before a body slams into his and arms wind around his shoulders.

“I missed you,” Jinhyung’s familiar voice mutters between barely stopped sobs.

Jinwoo wraps his arms tightly around his older brother’s waist, face already buried against his shoulder. Jinhyung smells like home. He smells like their mother’s cooking and the soap Jinwoo hasn’t been able to find anywhere other than Juno. Jinwoo peeks over his brother’s shoulder. His dad has an arm around his mom, who is covering her mouth as she cries. Beside her is Yeji, Jinghyung’s girlfriend, and—

“Hyung, am I an uncle?”

Jinhyung laughs, pulling away from the hug and wiping his eyes. “You are. Yeji and I— We wanted to wait, but we didn’t know when you would be back, so we got married and this— Bring him over, honey.”

Jinwoo bites the inside of his cheek as Yeji brings over his new nephew. “His name is Wooyeong,” she says softly.

Jinwoo grins as Wooyeong stretches a hand out to him. He offers a finger, which Wooyeong immediately grasps with his tiny hand.

“He’s a charmer,” Jinhyung laughs, tossing an arm around Jinwoo’s shoulders. “Babbles a lot, and especially likes to hold strangers’ fingers hostage.”

“Jinwoo—”

Without moving his finger from Wooyeong’s grasp, Jinwoo extends his other arm as his mom falls into his side. She gasps out a sob. Jinwoo blinks back his own tears. As strong as he had tried to be, the last three months have had some close calls for him and the others working for the rebellion. Once or twice Jinwoo had thought they were caught and he would never get to go back home. Holding his mom against his chest brings those feelings to the forefront again. The warmth of tears stings Jinwoo’s eyes. He tugs his finger out of Wooyeong’s weak grasp to wrap both arms tightly around his mom.

“How are you, baby?” Nayoung sighs, pulling away enough to look at him. “Are you okay? Are you stressed?”

Jinwoo laughs. “I’m fine, Mom. I’ve been fine.”

“Kangdae, get over here.” Nayoung waves over Jinwoo’s dad. “Give your son a hug.”

Jinwoo is wrapped in a bear hug as soon as the words have left his mom’s mouth. He clings to the back of his dad’s shirt, almost unable to breathe but not caring.

“You’re suffocating him, Dad.”

Jinwoo shakes his head, pressing his face further into his dad’s chest. It’s good to be home. He doesn’t want to move. He wants to take in all the things he’s missed in almost a year. He wants to take in everything in case he never sees home again.

Kangdae releases him with a sigh. Jinwoo wipes at his eyes. The second sun is rising, making the Eastern horizon glow. He used to watch the sunrise with Jinhyung from on top of their building after staring at the stars. Jinwoo turns his eyes to the sky, deep indigo with dots of light in familiar patterns. He was born under this sky. His brother was born under this sky. His parents and grandparents and their parents were born under this sky. Jinwoo bites back a harsh sob. It doesn’t matter how much he wants to stay home on Juno. He has a ship to captain, and a unit to lead.

“We should head home before it gets much later,” Nayoung suggests. “Wooyeong needs to get to sleep, too.”

Jinwoo nods. “Sure. I just need to tell my second something first.”

His family makes their way to the bus stop. Jinwoo grabs Bin and tugs him away from Chaeyoung’s family and the sole Kyklos doctor that has joined them.

“I need you to relay a message to the crew for me. We’re heading back to Mars in a month, maybe a little more.”

Bin blinks. “We’re what?”

“Our schedule was cut in half when we were on Pluto. We’re here for a few days, then we’ll head to Theseus and Amphion Station before going back to Mars. Tell the others for me, okay?”

“But—”

Jinwoo claps Bin on the shoulder. “I knew I could count on you. Don’t call me unless it’s an emergency!”

Despite all the questions Bin must have, Jinwoo doesn’t stay to answer them. He jogs to catch up with his family. They pile into an otherwise empty bus. Jinwoo stares at the buildings and parks they pass on the way to the Park home. He used to walk this route as a kid. He would take the bus from his school to the Kyklos base front gate before walking home. Sometimes, on the lucky days, he would get a glimpse at a Kyklos worker through the gap in the base’s fence.

Yeji scoots into the empty space beside Jinwoo. “Do you want to hold your nephew?”

Flowers blossom in Jinwoo’s chest. He nods, holding out his arms. Wooyeong’s eyes are large and round as Yeji slips him into Jinwoo’s arms. Will Wooyeong grow up on a planet dominated by Kyklos? Will he live a sheltered life like Jinwoo did, or will the situation on Juno crumble until it’s a copy of Helen or Leda?

Wooyeong giggles, grasping the Kyklos patch on the front of Jinwoo’s jacket. Yeji tries to pull his hand away but Jinwoo shakes his head.

“It’s okay,” he tells Yeji. “It won’t hurt him, and it doesn’t bother me.”

For the rest of the ride, Wooyeong plays with various parts of Jinwoo’s jacket. Jinwoo smooths the little hair on top of his head. He’s an  _ uncle _ . Jinwoo grins and presses a kiss to Wooyeong’s forehead. He would be the best uncle if he could stick around on Juno.

“Jinhyung and Yeji have been staying with us these last few months,” Nayoung says as they leave the bus. “They needed help with Wooyeong since they’re both working.”

“You got a job, hyung?” Jinwoo teases.

 

Jinhyung scoffs. “I’m the best damn programmer in the River District. The director of Aerocom recruited me himself when he saw my test scores.”

“You passed the test?” Jinwoo continues, sidestepping to avoid his brother’s swipe at him. “What do you do, Yeji?”

“I work in research at Aerocom.” She grins and lowers her voice as they enter the building’s lobby. “I’m technically not supposed to talk about it—we didn’t have to sign a nondisclosure agreement so it’s fine—but lately we’ve been working on long-range ship-to-ground communication. Kyklos asked us to develop something along those lines, but we’re having issues figuring out how to boost the range without needed to use new satellites.”

Jinwoo nods in understanding as his heart beats faster. Long-range communication allowing ship-to-ground communication would make Kyklos’ security sector stronger than it appears to be now. He keeps himself in check when responding.

“Do you know what you’d be making it look like? As far as functionality, I mean.” Jinwoo shifts Wooyeong on his hip as they step into the elevator. “Would it be handheld or something like my TLM?”

“TLM?” Yeji leans to look at his ear, and Jinwoo helpfully turns his head. “You  _ do  _ have one! We were thinking something handheld because it gives us more space to work with, but modeling it after the trans-language modules is a good idea. Is it comfortable to wear?” She pouts. “I wish I had one.”

Jinwoo shrugs, touching the device clipped to the shell of his ear. “It’s not uncomfortable, but I don’t usually wear it for long anyway. It’s only useful when we land or talk to another ship because the crew all speaks Korean.”

“That’s unusual, isn’t it?” Kangdae comments.

“It’s a new crew. The board at Kyklos wanted to make it easier for the crew to communicate since it’s the first time any of us have gone off-planet for a job like this. Not even the whole crew has TLM’s to use.”

Jinhyung hums. “Will you be captain of a more diverse crew later?”

The thought of not having some of the crew members he does now makes Jinwoo pause. “Technically, yeah, that could be in the future.”

“You have to tell us about your crew, Jinwoo.” Nayoung wraps her arm around Jinwoo’s. “Who was that you spoke to before?”

“Oh, him?” Jinwoo smiles at the look of fascination on his mom’s face. “That was Moon Bin. He’s my second in command. If anything were to happen to me or if I leave the ship and the rest of the crew is on board, it’s his job to do my job while I’m away.”

“He’s not from here, is he?” Kangdae’s brows draw together. “He doesn’t have the Juno look about him.”

Jinwoo rolls his eyes. His dad is convinced everybody on Juno has a certain look. “He’s from Mars. Chaeyoung, the girl who we rolled out in the wheelchair, is the only other one from here.”

“Why  _ was  _ she in a wheelchair?” Nayoung asks. “Did something bad happen to your ship? It wasn’t those  _ nasty  _ space pirates, was it?”

“No space pirates in the area, Mom. One of the crates in our cargo bay fell over and hurt her leg. She’ll be fine.”

“You have to give us a tour of your ship.” Jinhyung is the first to step out of the elevator onto the fifteenth floor. “Wooyeong needs to see it, too.”

Jinwoo smiles, patting Wooyeong lightly as he follows his brother down the hall. “I’d love to, but that would be breaking protocol. Civilians aren’t allowed on board. Kyklos would probably demote me.”

“Just don’t tell them,” Jinhyung jokes. “They’ll never know.”

“I have to log every passenger. The ship even scans and keeps track of every crew member by these watches.” Jinwoo taps his left wrist with his free hand.

“That’s”—Yeji bends to look at the watch—”incredible.”

Kangdae opens the door to the apartment, making a grand gesture for Jinwoo to enter before any of them. “Welcome home, son.”

Jinwoo hands Wooyeong off to Yeji before walking into the spacious unit he grew up in. His elementary soccer ribbon still hangs on the wall above the couch. Wooyeong’s crib is pressed against the wall across from the couch. There are new curtains hanging on the West wall, floor-to-ceiling windows. Jinwoo lets out a heavy breath. He’s finally home.

“I hope you’ll be okay sleeping on the couch.” Nayoung wraps an arm around Jinwoo from behind. “Jinhyung and Yeji share the second bedroom now, and Wooyeong sleeps in here. He usually sleeps through the night, so he shouldn’t wake you with any crying.”

Jinwoo smiles, twisting to hug his mom. “That works fine.”

Nayoung pats his back. “You get comfortable. I only need to do a little more to prepare for dinner. Yeji, sweetheart, can you give me a hand?”

“Of course, Mom!” Yeji sets Wooyeong on the floor beside the coffee table.

Kangdae sinks into the armchair as Wooyeong crawls across the floor. Jinwoo stands in awe of his family for a moment. He’ll hopefully have this someday, too. He wants someone by his side that loves him and a baby making their way under the coffee table on their stomach. He wants a home where he can invite all of his friends and family to visit.

Jinwoo jerks his thumb down the hall. “I need to call someone on CTL. That okay, Dad?”

Kangdae nods. “Sure thing. Take your time, but delete whoever it is from the logs when you’re done. Some losers around here have been hijacking information and I don’t want you or your friends to be a target.”

Jinwoo didn’t even know he’d been tense until he hears those words from his dad. He was going to wipe the log anyway.

As Jinwoo sets up the CTL at the end of the hall, he listens to the chatter of his mom, Yeji, and Jinhyung in the kitchen. Maybe he can get more information from Yeji about the research Aerocom is doing— Jinwoo shakes his head. That isn’t relevant. The research will probably be stopped once the rebellion goes public with Cho Minsoo’s information, anyway. He types in Myungjun’s ID from memory and closes the CTL room door behind himself.

The room is much smaller than the one on the ship. Jinwoo only has a few feet to himself on his half of the room. The machines whir for several minutes before stopping. Myungjun didn’t answer his call. He could be asleep. Jinwoo checks his watch, swiping to find the clock dedicated to the time of the Mars Kyklos base. It’s late on Mars, so he must be asleep. Jinwoo frowns. He wanted to talk to Myungjun. He should be relaying the information about Lee Wonshik and the security sector but Jinwoo wants more than that. Talking to Myungjun always eases the stress he feels. His stress release will have to wait until Myungjun is awake. Jinwoo clears the CTL log and makes his way back to the living room.

Wooyeong pulls himself to his feet by grabbing the couch beside where Jinwoo sits. Nayoung and Yeji carry dishes from the kitchen to the coffee table as Jinwoo sets Wooyeong in his lap. Jinwoo eats off of Jinhyung’s plate to avoid having to lean forward and make Wooyeong uncomfortable.

“Tell us about your crew,” Kangdae says. “Who’s your pilot? You know, I was almost pilot of a cargo ship.”

Nayoung sighs. “We don’t need to hear the story again, Dae.”

Jinwoo smiles. “Yoon Sanha. He’s just a kid from Titan. He’s actually the youngest person to ever pass the flight exam. He’s only 19.”

Jinhyung whistles. “That’s impressive. Titan is one of Jupiter’s moons, right?”

“It’s Saturn’s largest moon.” Jinwoo takes another piece of food from Jinhyung’s plate. “I already told you about Bin. He’s my second in command and chief medical officer. Minhyuk is our chief engineer. He’s only a year older than Sanha, but I wouldn’t trust anybody else to keep our ship running. He knows what he’s talking about. He got the highest average grade on his tests out of everybody in the last ten years.”

“So”—Kangdae leans forward—”your first pilot and engineer are prodigies. How did you manage to get them both on your crew?”

Jinwoo laughs. “Bin, actually. He became friends with Minhyuk during training and when he was appointed as my second, he requested the board put Minhyuk in our crew. The others were all luck. A lot of them are still in training, at least partially. Our relief pilot, Sookyung, hasn’t logged enough hours and hasn’t passed the written exam yet. Chaeyoung is our lead life support engineer, but she hasn’t passed all her tests yet. Hyunseo is right under Minhyuk as lead propulsion engineer. He’s qualified, but Minhyuk says Hyunseo seems lost sometimes. There’s Suyeon, our communications officer; Soeun, our assistant navigator; and Sebin, who’s lead physician.”

Jinhyung hums. “So it’s you and nine others?”

“That’s right.” Jinwoo takes more food from Jinhyung’s plate.

“Do you handle it okay?” Nayoung sets her plate on the coffee table to look seriously at Jinwoo. “You aren’t having a hard time with anything, right?”

“Nayoung, please,” Kangdae sighs. “He’s a grown man!”

Nayoung frowns. “I worry about you, Jinwoo. Being a captain has to be so stressful.”

Jinwoo shakes his head, letting Wooyeong down to the floor as he wiggles for freedom. “It’s not stressful. Well, it is, but I knew it would be like that when I signed up for the job.” Jinwoo toys with the band of his watch. He worries about Myungjun more than the crew.

The rest of the night passes quickly. Jinhyung and Jinwoo do the dishes when everybody has finished eating, and Yeji gives Wooyeong a bath. Kangdae gives Jinwoo a set of clothes to change into after his shower, plaid pants far too long for Jinwoo’s short legs and an old shirt with pen marks Jinwoo is almost certain are his fault. Finally, with the thick curtains to block out the night’s second sun, Jinwoo settles into the couch with a blanket over himself and a pillow under his head. He used to fall asleep on the couch like this as he waited for Jinhyung to return home after team practices during high school. Jinwoo watches Wooyeong in his crib, already fast asleep. Kangdae is snoring in the next room. Light peeks out from under Jinhyung and Yeji’s closed door. As the washing machine rattles quietly in its own closet, Jinwoo closes his eyes and sleeps.

Jinwoo blinks several times when he wakes up to an incessant beeping. He squints at the glowing face of his watch.

_ REQUEST FOR CTL: Myungjun, Kim. ID #A05kj275 _

Wooyeong whines softly and Jinwoo shuts off the alarm quickly. He lifts Wooyeong out of the crib and bounces him a few times, rubbing his back. Jinwoo doesn’t want to be the reason his entire family wakes up.

The CTL system takes a moment to turn on. Jinwoo shuffles into the room and closes the door before flipping on the light. Wooyeong whines again and Jinwoo hushes him, bouncing him on his hip.

“We’re going to talk to Junnie,” Jinwoo says softly as Wooyeong looks up at him with sleepy eyes. “Do you want to meet Junnie? He has big eyes like you and pretty hair like you.”

Wooyeong’s head falls onto Jinwoo’s chest. Jinwoo grins, kissing Wooyeong’s head lightly. He looks to the other half of the room to find Myungjun already standing there, the edges of his shoulders slightly fuzzy from the old CTL system working not exactly as it should.

Jinwoo points at Wooyeong. “Meet my nephew,” he whispers to Myungjun. “His name is Wooyeong. My watch woke him up.”

Myungjun covers his mouth momentarily. “Did I wake you up? What time is it there?”

Jinwoo shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. Have you been okay?”

Myungjun pauses before nodding. “Yeah, I’m— You’re back home?”

“It’s only for a few days.” Jinwoo continues to rock Wooyeong out of worry he’ll cry. He mouths at Jinwoo’s shirt, causing a wet spot to form. “Came off the ship and they were waiting for me with Wooyeong. Jinhyung married Yeji while I was gone, and now they’re living with my parents.”

Myungjun grins, and Jinwoo watches as he lifts a hand cautiously before dropping it again. “I wish I could hold him,” Myungjun whispers. “He looks so small. How old is he?”

“Seven months, I think.” Jinwoo pats Wooyeong’s back gently. “We’ll come here together someday, and you can meet him. I’m sure he’d like you. Everybody who meets you likes you.” He pauses. “ _ I  _ like you.”

“Jinwoo—”

He grins widely. “I know. I won’t say anything more.” They have an unspoken promise to not bring up their feelings too strongly. There’s a job for them to do that’s more important than their feelings.

“Are those your clothes?” Myungjun asks softly. “I only ever see you in your uniform.”

“These? Oh, no, they’re Dad’s.” Jinwoo stretches a leg out so that the pants fall over his foot. “They’re too long.”

Myungjun nods slowly. Silence fills the space between them, the few feet between their bodies almost feeling real. Jinwoo wants to cross the line in the middle of the room and be able to hug Myungjun. He wants to hold Myungjun in his arms. He wants to kiss Myungjun and smooth his hair and tell him he loves him.

Jinwoo swallows the lump in his throat. “What time is it there? What are you doing today?”

“A little after noon. It’s not important.” Myungjun waves a hand in the air. “I haven’t had time to call you before now, though I did see you called me.”

Jinwoo smiles. “I missed you, so my first thought when we landed was I needed to give you a call but I didn’t even bother to check the time. I have an update, too, though.”

“An update? Do you mean about what happened on Atlas?”

Jinwoo presses a finger to his lips when there’s a knock on the CTL room door. He shuffles over and opens it slowly.

“Mom?”

She takes a step into the room. “What are you doing awake over here? Did Wooyeong—” She spots Myungjun. “Oh! I didn’t realize the room was on.”

Jinwoo smiles a little, glancing between his mom and Myungjun. There’s anxiety in Myungjun’s eyes but Jinwoo runs with the situation. “Mom, this is Myungjun. He and I are—we’re really close. We met on Mars when I was training.”

Myungjun bows politely. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Nayoung grins and gives Jinwoo a knowing look. “Really close, huh? Should I expect any sort of invitation soon?”

Jinwoo coughs, and Wooyeong stirs. “ _ Mom _ ,” he hisses, shooing her out of the room. He hands off Wooyeong to keep her since she had asked about him first. Jinwoo shuts the door and presses his forehead against the cold surface, too embarrassed to face Myungjun.

“Your mom seems nice.”

Jinwoo faces Myungjun with a groan. “Ignore her. She’s over eager about anything and everything.”

“Didn’t you tell me once that you cry easily because she does, too?”

Jinwoo rubs his cheek in an attempt to hide his blush. “I don’t want to talk about her anymore. I need to tell you about Atlas.”

Myungjun’s smile stays on his lips. “Okay. Hit me with it.”

Jinwoo fills Myungjun in, keeping his voice low in case his mom is trying to listen in. He tells him every detail from the end of their last CTL to Cho Minsoo’s information about Lee Wonshik and the security sector to their run-in with a rebellion ship before they reached the star gate. Myungjun listens on edge, hands clasped before him. Several times Jinwoo pauses to redirect himself. He wants to hug Myungjun and repeat the promise he made months ago that everything is going to be okay.

The room is quiet when Jinwoo finishes his story.

“I didn’t tell you everything earlier,” Myungjun says after a few seconds of silence as he processes. “I think they’re onto me.”

Jinwoo’s blood turns to ice. “What?”

“My coworkers. They know something’s up. Last night I found a weird file on my computer and Gukheon mentioned Mr. Lee—Lee  _ Wonshik _ —and I just ran into Dongmin and someone else when I was trying to fix the mess I made by deleting a bunch of  _ Ambition  _ files in the first place.”

Myungjun is clearly nervous, but his voice and tone are as steady as always. Jinwoo will never understand it. His mind latches onto the name Dongmin, however.

“You said Dongmin?”

Myungjun raises a brow. “Do you know him?”

“Uh, not directly. Bin is always calling him on the CTL. He used to, at least. I don’t think they’ve talked since we were on Hera.” Jinwoo tilts his head for a moment. “It’s unusual. I can try to talk to him about it, but I don’t know what help it would be.”

Myungjun nods. “That would be great. Jinwoo, I’m—” He pauses, glancing down at his hands. Jinwoo has seen this look on Myungjun only once before. It makes his skin crawl. “I’m scared they’re going to find out everything.”

“One more month.” Jinwoo takes a step closer to the line in the middle of the room. “Hold out for one more month. I’ll sneak you into the cargo bay and we’ll run away and find your parents and live safe together.”

He knows it’ll do no good, but Jinwoo reaches out to Myungjun. His hand crosses the line and he knows Myungjun must see only static where his arm ends abruptly. Myungjun smiles anyway and stretches his hand out until it falls victim to the limited range of the lasers as well.

“I’ll wait for you to get back.” Myungjun nods once. “I’ll wait, and I’ll play it safe.”

“You try to call me if something happens. I mean it, Jun. If anything at all happens—”

Myungjun laughs. “I’ll call. I promise.”

Jinwoo swallows thickly. Hopefully, Myungjun won’t have to hold up his promise and make that call.

——

Jinwoo fixes the collar of his jacket. The whole family is up already. As much as he wants to stick around for breakfast, his duty as Captain of the  _ Ambition _ has to come first at times like this. He received word from Bin that Chaeyoung had to go into surgery during the night and won’t be joining them when they leave Juno. Instead, another officer by the name of Ong will take her place. Bin’s message also urges Jinwoo to return to the ship as soon as possible. The wording of his message makes Jinwoo’s chest tight with worry.

“Going out already?” Nayoung asks, leaning out of the kitchen.

Jinwoo smiles apologetically. “Work calls. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

“Wait, just—” Nayoung walks over to him, stepping out of the unit and tugging him along by his arm.

“Mom?” Jinwoo smiles. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I have to tell you something.”

Jinwoo’s watch beeps. He glances at it, a short message from Bin blinking on the display.

_ K D B. _

_ Kyklos director on board. _

“I really need to go, Mom.” Jinwoo sets his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry. Can it wait until later?”

Nayoung opens her mouth to protest but no words come out. She nods. “Go. Take care of your crew.”

Jinwoo makes it to the Kyklos base in what must be record time. Why would a Kyklos director be on the _ Ambition _ ? He advances carefully through the ship, shocked at how quiet it is. The rest of the crew must have had an early start. Jinwoo doesn’t hear anything until he nears the bridge.

Bin’s voice floats down the hall. “—quarters on the second floor. There are spare beds since we have a crew on the smaller side, and you should be plenty comfortable there.”

Bin gives him a polite nod in greeting when he walks in. “Captain, let me introduce you to our new crew member and our passenger.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” The man not much taller than himself, wearing the Kyklos uniform jacket, bows in greeting. “My name is Ong Seongwoo. I’ll be your new communications officer starting today.”

“We’re excited to have you join the team.” Jinwoo offers a kind smile. “Bin, show him to the sleeping quarters so he can settle in. Our guest and I must have some stuff to discuss.”

Bin nods once in confirmation before leading Seongwoo out of the bridge and up the ladder. Jinwoo sinks into his captain’s seat. The aura coming off their surprise guest makes his stomach clench with anxiety.

The man straightens his already straight shirt. “My name is Choi Hyunggeun. I’m the Director of Research and Development for Kyklos. I’ve been here working with Aerocom, and it’s time for me to head back to Mars. Rather than take a separate ship, my superiors suggested I tag along with you and your crew since you’ll be returning to Mars shortly.”

Jinwoo doesn’t like him. He nods. “That shouldn’t cause any issues. We’ll make sure we have enough food stocked so we can travel comfortably without having to stop for supplies. Did your superiors tell you we have two stops left after leaving Juno?”

Hyunggeun smiles and Jinwoo can see the fakeness in it right away. “My superiors also wanted me to inform you that your stop on Amphion Station won’t be necessary. We should return to Mars after you conclude business on Theseus.”

“I hope you’ll understand, but I’ll have to check with the shipping sector chief of staff for confirmation.”

“By all means. You have a protocol to follow as Captain, after all.”

Bin returns to the bridge to break the tension between Jinwoo and Hyunggeun. “Seongwoo is settling in. Sir”—he turns to Hyunggeun—”would you like me to show you to the sleeping quarters?”

“I’m sure I can find my way.” Hyunggeun smiles coldly at Jinwoo. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Jinwoo follows Hyunggeun to the edge of the bridge, watching as he ascends the ladder. When he’s sure it’s safe, he lowers his voice to Bin.

“I don’t like him,” he hisses. “Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t get into the systems. He shouldn’t have clearance to, but we need to be careful.”

Bin nods once. “I was going to suggest we keep an eye on him, too.”

“MJ had a run-in with your boyfriend and another coworker,” Jinwoo explains. “He says they may be onto him, so they may be onto us from this side as well. We need to be extra careful these next couple weeks. I’m going to confirm what he said, but apparently, our stop on Amphion Station has been removed as well.”

Bin frowns momentarily. “We’ll be careful. I’m going to check on Sanha. I’ll tell him and Minhyuk while I’m there.”

Jinwoo watches Bin ascend the ladder. When his feet have disappeared, Jinwoo lets himself sink against the wall outside the bridge. He presses a hand to his chest to stop his heart from popping out. People are suspicious of Myungjun for deleting files related to the  _ Ambition.  _ Kyklos is no doubt suspicious of the crew aboard the ship, too. Jinwoo chews on his bottom lip. They have to hold out for a little longer.


	11. Juno

“Are you really not going to go out and see Juno?”

 

Minhyuk tosses the ball in the air and catches it once again. “Nope.”

 

“Aren’t you bored?”

 

“Not really.”

 

Sanha sighs in the overdramatic fashion that has become his normal over the course of the last three days since the surprise attack by the rebellion ship, laying back on the perpetually inclined bed. Confined to the med bay by Bin’s orders and Minhyuk’s watchful eyes, dramatic sighs have become his only form of expression. Five days of relaxation and exploring a new planet have been snatched from him by a minor concussion and a seriously sprained ankle. Sanha’s eyes follow the ball as Minhyuk tosses and catches it repeatedly.

 

“Did Jinwoo clear everything with the staff?” Sanha shifts on the bed, his muscles starting to ache from being still for so long. “That director said we aren’t going to Amphion Station anymore.”

 

Minhyuk catches the ball one last time and looks at Sanha. “Yeah, something about needing Director Choi back on Mars as soon as possible.”

 

“What about the cargo we were supposed to drop off at Amphion Station, then?”

 

Minhyuk shrugs. “They’ll probably load it onto another ship on Mars and send them to deliver it.”

 

Sanha likes visiting stations. They’re different from planets in a way nobody had been able to describe accurately to him. The feeling of floating through space in a ship makes Sanha feel lonely and isolated, but stations make him feel  _ alive _ . 

 

Minhyuk jerks his chin at the door. “Do you wanna go down the hall again?”

 

Sanha swallows as his ears warm. He nods and waits patiently for Minhyuk to come to the side of the bed and help him out of it. Sanha reminds himself that Minhyuk is just looking out for his well-being. His mouth mimics the sand fields outside the habitats on Titan; it’s devoid of any moisture as Minhyuk’s arm slips around his waist.

 

“You’re too tall,” Minhyuk huffs.

 

Sanha rests his arm around Minhyuk’s shoulders and takes a single, limping step towards the med bay door. “Or maybe you’re just too short. They probably fed you weird things that stunted your growth wherever you grew up.”

 

“Helen.”

 

Sanha looks down at Minhyuk sharply. “What?”

 

“I grew up on Helen.”

 

Sanha takes another step and twists to face Minhyuk more. “Wait. Didn’t Cho Minsoo mention that?”

 

“Keep it down,” Minhyuk hisses. “Someone else could be on board.”

 

Sanha ducks his head. Minhyuk is right. If any of the crew heard them, they would be in trouble. If  _ Director Choi _ heard them, they would be sent to prison faster than it takes for Hyunseo to finish a bag of dried fruit. They continue down the hall in silence for a while, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

 

Sanha is first to break the silence. “Was living there as bad as he said?”

 

Minhyuk shakes his head. “It wasn’t that bad.”

 

“What wasn’t that bad?”

 

Sanha can’t turn around, but he cranes his head to look back over his shoulder. Director Choi steps off the ladder and faces them with a kind smile. He pointedly looks at their arms around one another and the slight smile that had been on his lips falls away.

 

“This is just therapy, right?” He shifts on his feet. “You must be aware that the shipping and transportation sector Code of Conduct prohibits dating among crew members, right? You would’ve been tested on that.”

 

Minhyuk turns a bit more. “It never said anything about flirting.”

 

Sanha turns to face the front in embarrassment, avoiding looking at Minhyuk or Director Choi. 

 

Director Choi hums. “Very well.”

 

Minhyuk doesn’t move until Director Choi has climbed to the top floor of the ship. He turns back to face the front and his thumb rubs Sanha’s waist. Was it a conscious decision? The voice in Sanha’s head proclaims that it was. 

 

“Do you want to keep walking?”

 

Sanha shakes his head. The dryness of his mouth has taken over his throat as well. He turns his head away, coughing in an attempt to resolve the issue.

 

“You’re not getting sick, are you?” Minhyuk takes his time helping Sanha turn around, acting as the pivot point.

 

“I’m fine.” Sanha grips Minhyuk’s shoulder. “Let’s just get back so I can do therapy.”

 

Minhyuk helps him back, slowly. Sanha gazes up the ladder chute when they pass. Could Director Choi be waiting out of sight and listening to them? Sanha keeps his question to himself.

 

Sanha takes the chair where Minhyuk had been before, gritting his teeth at the pain caused from putting any weight on his ankle. Minhyuk takes several steps back and looks him over. He seems satisfied, as he nods once and hoists himself up onto Sanha’s bed.

 

“It’ll get better, right?” Sanha asks. “We aren’t going to be on Juno forever, and I don’t really trust Sookyung to get us off the planet.”

 

Minhyuk snorts. “You’ll be ready to fly again in no time if you just shut up and do your therapy.”

 

Sanha pouts. “You don’t have to be so mean about it.”

 

Minhyuk offers nothing more than an expectant look at Sanha. With a sigh, Sanha plants his foot on the floor and begins leaning his knee from one side to the other as Bin instructed. The room is quiet aside from several soft gasps from Sanha when he leans his knee too far. The entire ship is quiet, in fact. No sound from the planet permeates the thick walls of the hangar and the insulation of the ship, no matter how poor it is. Whatever Director Choi is doing on the level above is completely silent, too. Sanha leans his head back with a groan.

 

“You’ve become more dramatic,” Minhyuk comments.

 

Sanha looks at him without leaning his head forward. “You would be, too, if you had no choice but to be stuck on the ship.”

 

“Well, I don’t have a choice.”

 

“I can stay here by myself.”

 

Minhyuk shakes his head. “I won’t let you stay here by yourself.”

 

Sanha pulls his head forward and stops moving his knee. “Why not?”

 

“That’s not what friends do.”

 

_ Friends _ . The word echoes in Sanha’s ears. Minhyuk is right. They’re friends.

 

Sanha doesn’t want to be  _ only _ friends.

 

Minhyuk stays with him for the rest of the day and even helps him through some of his therapy (though help is a strong word; he mostly points out when Sanha should stop a certain therapy and start a new one). As the day grows later, Minhyuk brings Sanha his meal. The rest of the crew (aside from Jinwoo and Chaeyoung) return to the ship for the night. Minhyuk helps him into the med bay shower, suggesting a chair so Sanha can sit as he showers and Sanha agrees, knowing he can’t stand for very long. With his hair dripping a little and his limbs slow, Sanha settles into bed for the final time of the night.

 

Minhyuk hesitates by the side of the bed. “Do you need anything else?”

 

Sanha shakes his head. “You’ve taken care of everything for me already.”

 

“Good.” Minhyuk pats the bed. “I’m going to go. I need to shower and sleep, too. If you yell loud enough, I’ll hear you from upstairs or at least one of the others will.”

 

There had been a bad feeling in Sanha’s gut the night before, and it returns now. Sanha has shared a room with others for his entire life. He shared a room with his brothers on Titan. He had a roommate during his Kyklos training. He’s been in a cabin with Minhyuk and Bin for the entirety of their time on the Ambition. The night he’d spent in the med bay had been okay while Chaeyoung had been there, but last night he had only nodded off for short periods of time with long stretches of wakefulness between. The quiet had been stifling, even suffocating. 

 

Minhyuk is already leaving the room when Sanha speaks up.

 

“Stay here.”

 

Minhyuk looks at him without judgement, only confusion on his face. “What?”

 

“I couldn’t sleep last night because it was too quiet,” Sanha admits, picking at the blanket over his lap. “I think it’s because I’m so used to sharing a room, and with Chaeyoung gone, it was really quiet. If you slept here, I think I’d be able to sleep.”

 

“You—” Minhyuk sighs. “Why didn’t you say that earlier? You should’ve called for me last night or at least have napped today.”

 

Sanha shrugs, eyes stuck to the blanket.

 

“Okay.”

 

Sanha looks at Minhyuk, pushing down the joy in his chest. “Really?”

 

Minhyuk nods. “I still have to go shower, but I’ll be back and sleep on the other bed.” Minhyuk frowns at it. “Even though I’ll have to sleep upright.”

 

Sanha smiles, glancing at the bed beside his own. As a Kyklos medical standard, all of the beds are inclined. “It isn’t that bad,” he admits. “Your neck just might hurt when you wake up.”

 

“Well, that’s dumb. I’m bringing my own pillows.” He glances at Sanha and the briefest of smiles flashes on his lips. “I’ll be back.”

 

Sanha waits patiently for Minhyuk to return. He can hear the drum of the water on the floor above in the communal showers, and ten minutes later he hears the thud of something being dropped. Minhyuk returns to the med bay with two pillows and a blanket.

 

“Time for bed.” Minhyuk drops the pillows on the chair he’d been sitting in earlier and crosses the room to a cabinet to retrieve sheets for the bed. “You better actually sleep. I’m making myself uncomfortable so you can be comfortable.”

 

Sanha grins. “Thanks.”

 

Minhyuk shakes his head. “Yeah, don’t thank me now. You’re still awake.”

 

Sanha tries and fails to remove the smile from his lips as he watches Minhyuk. “You’re good at putting sheets on a bed.”

 

Minhyuk stops to look at Sanha. “You make me sound like a housewife.”

 

“ _ Are _ you a housewife?”

 

Minhyuk frowns.

 

Sanha scoots down on his bed and situates his single pillow under his head and shoulders. “Don’t forget to turn off the light.”

 

“Now you make me sound like your mom.”

 

Sanha giggles, covering his mouth.

 

Minhyuk finishes arranging the sheets and shuffles over to flip off the light on the wall with a quick tap. The room falls into nearly complete darkness. The only illumination comes from a single glowing monitor in the corner of the room proudly displaying the Kyklos logo. Sanha watches Minhyuk carefully make his way to the next bed over and slide in under the blanket.

 

Silence pours into the room, but it isn’t an empty silence. Sanha listens to the uneven breaths of Minhyuk slowly turn even. The ship itself makes no noise, but Sanha imagines the hum of the engines. His eyes return to the monitor across the room. Bin had seemed uneasy when he told them to be careful around Director Choi. Was he a spy?

 

Sanha rolls his head to the side. Minhyuk’s features are completely lost in the dark, but he can very clearly make out his figure in the bed.

 

“Minhyuk.”

 

“Go to sleep, Sanha.”

 

“I can’t. I keep thinking.”

 

“So stop.”

 

Sanha sighs. “Would you just  _ listen  _ to me?”

 

Minhyuk shifts in the bed. Sanha can’t see his expression, but he can see him propped up on an elbow.

 

“What is it? I’m tired.”

 

Sanha glances at the screen. “Do you think Director Choi is a spy?”

 

“If he is, you’re doing a bad job at combating it.”

 

“But—”

 

“He’s not a spy. He’s just a director.”

 

“Do you think—”

 

Minhyuk groans. “Please, Sanha. I want to sleep.”

 

Sanha hesitates. “Will we be okay?”

 

Minhyuk sits up all the way. “What are you talking about?”

 

“With everything that’s happened, do you think we’ll be okay? I mean, we’re okay now. Do you think we’ll keep being okay?”

 

Minhyuk is quiet. He glances over his shoulder at the bright monitor in the corner. It lights up his features, drawing Sanha’s attention to his strong nose and brow bone. He doesn’t get to admire Minhyuk’s profile for long. Minhyuk twists to look at him again, leaning toward Sanha.

 

“Even if things aren’t okay,” Minhyuk says, “I’ll keep you safe.”

 

Sanha’s cheeks warm, but he scoffs. “Keep  _ me  _ safe? You’re half my height.”

 

“Alright, I was going to keep being your friend, but you can forget that now. You get to go to sleep friendless.” Despite the harsh words, Sanha can hear the smile in them. “Just go to bed, you big baby. We’ll be fine for at least another night.”

 

That’s all Sanha needs. He folds his hands over his stomach and closes his eyes. Minhyuk protecting him wouldn’t be that bad. In fact, he thinks he’d like it if Minhyuk was the one protecting him. Sanha smiles, clutching the blanket at his waist. Maybe things with Minhyuk will get better. Maybe one day Sanha will be able to confess his feelings to Minhyuk. Maybe one day they’ll be happy together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to check out vonseal's chapter, too! You'll miss out on part of the story if you don't read it~


	12. Alpha Centauri System

Bin types in Dongmin’s ID with care. It’s midday back on Mars, so he should be awake and free to chat. Doubt swirls through Bin’s messy thoughts. Dongmin might not answer him. He wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t. It’s been over two weeks since they last spoke, and Bin wasn’t kind to Dongmin the last time. He had spilled lie after lie to force Dongmin’s feelings. If Dongmin doesn’t care for him, he won’t be at risk of learning the truth about Kyklos.

 

It’s a bad idea to call him, but Bin has already sent the request. He closes the CTL room door quietly, hoping to avoid drawing the attention of Suyeon or Minhyuk or anybody on the crew. The paper in his back pocket burns. He’d written a list of things he wanted to apologize for, but standing in the empty room makes him feel silly. He can’t read off a list. He has to be genuine. His heart races with only the thought of seeing Dongmin again. 

 

How will he tell Dongmin he’s going back to Mars after two more stops? Maybe he won’t tell him. He can show up and surprise Dongmin.

 

The CTL system hums stronger for a moment, and the lasers converge across the room. Hazy around the edges and tinted blue, Dongmin wears a guarded expression as he comes into being across the room. Bin thinks he sees both relief and frustration in Dongmin’s eyes, but it’s too hard to tell.

 

When the lasers have finished, Dongmin says nothing.

 

“Uh.” Bin smiles a little. “Hey.”

 

Dongmin’s smile mirrors his own, happy but guarded. “How have you been?”

 

Bin sighs, rubbing his neck. “I’ve been okay.” He furrows his brows. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what I said to you, how I said it, and what I really meant.”

 

“Bin—”

 

He holds out a hand. “Please. I need to say this.”

 

Dongmin crosses his arms, shifting his weight. “Okay.”

 

Bin takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I overreacted to your ideas and suggestions in a way that I realize was rude and insensitive. I was harsh and I shouldn’t have been. I should’ve explained why I”—Bin shakes his head—”I’m sorry. I’m not going to give you any excuses.” He slips his hands into his jacket pockets.

 

Dongmin looks at him carefully in the quiet following his words. His jaw works for a moment. “I forgive you.”

 

Bin’s brows shoot up. “What?”

 

A smile breaks Dongmin’s collected facade, joy seeping into his eyes. “I forgive you. I know you’re probably under a lot of pressure, and there’s probably things you can’t tell me as second-in-command.” He shrugs, unfolding his arms. “Besides, you were probably right about the ship being cramped.”

 

That had been much easier than Bin anticipated. He sags slightly in relief. “Thank you for understanding. You’re right that there’s things I can’t share. I know some stuff even the rest of the crew doesn’t.”

 

“I won’t pry.” Dongmin sinks to the floor, crossing his legs in front of himself. “What have you been up to?”

 

Bin copies Dongmin, leaning back on his hands as he sits. “Not much,” he says, an easy lie. “We spent a few days on Juno. Jin— Our captain’s from there, so he got some time with his family. He has a new nephew, he says. I didn’t get to meet him, but he sounds as lazy as Captain does.”

 

Dongmin hums in amusement. “Where else are you visiting?”

 

“On our way to Theseus now.”  _ Where Jinwoo will hand over the recording of me interrogating Cho Minsoo for information about your father and the rest of Kyklos’ illegal deeds.  _ Bin rubs the back of his neck. “We should be there in about a day. And you? How have you been spending your time?”

 

“Me?” Dongmin looks shocked by the question. “Oh, uh, just the usual. Wasting my time with reading and stuff.”

 

“And what about working for Kyklos? Have you made up your mind?”

 

Dongmin frowns. “Ya know, I think I will.” He nods once. “I should. I haven’t picked what else I could do with my life, and I can’t just keep taking advantage of the free employee housing they’ve given me.”

 

Bin smiles. “Is that where you are now? Have you moved in permanently to the employee house they gave you?”

 

“What?” Dongmin sits up. “It’s not permanent, per say, but yes, I am living in the employee house.”

 

Bin wonders what the employee houses look like. Would Dongmin let him stay there when he goes back to visit? Bin would rather not spend every night on the ship, especially because the airfield on Mars can be loud with its near-constant activity.

 

“Have you signed up yet?”

 

“What?” Dongmin’s shoulders curl forward. “No, I haven’t.”

 

“Any reason you moved into the employee house, then? I mean, I’ve seen where you grew up. Probably a lot more spacious there than in an employee house, isn’t it?”

 

“N-no reason,” Dongmin stammers. He shifts uncomfortably. “Just thought I would, uh, take advantage of the space! Yeah.” He nods to himself. “Might as well take advantage of getting some alone time while I can.”

 

Bin hears the echo of Dongmin’s CTL room door open. The lasers rush to converge on the face and upper body of the other person that has entered the room. Bin can’t get a good look at them; they aren’t far enough in the room for the lasers to really get a grasp on their features. 

 

“Hey,” says a smooth male voice, “have you seen my omni-driver?”

 

“O-omni— It should be with your things,” Dongmin continues, shoulders tense as he’s turned to face the other man. 

 

“I haven’t moved anything since you moved— Did you check the boxes in the living room? I think one of them was labeled for work.”

 

The man nods. “Good thinking. Thanks, babe.”

 

_ Thanks, babe. _

 

His figure fades away and the door clicks. Dongmin doesn’t move at first, staring at where Bin assumes the door is for several seconds before he turns back around.

 

Bin speaks before he thinks. “You move on fast.”

 

Dongmin opens his mouth, closing it quickly. “He just moved in. The employee houses around here are mostly empty and shut down. We aren’t that serious, anyway. He just needs somewhere closer to the main office to stay.”

 

Bin nods, dropping his eyes. “That’s fine. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge, anyway. You can do whatever you want there because I’m not—  _ we’re  _ not dating.” The words leave a sour taste in Bin’s mouth.

 

“That’s not why— I didn’t start dating him just because— I mean—” Dongmin sighs, rubbing his eyes. 

 

“I get it.” Bin looks Dongmin in the eyes, forcing a smile onto his face. “I’m happy you found someone. Really, I mean it.”

 

Dongmin stares at him for a moment. “You mean it?”

 

Bin nods. “Absolutely. That’s all I could hope for; that you would be happy with someone.”

 

“You’re not mad?”

 

Bin scoffs, playing it casual despite the storm raging in his chest. “Mad? I’m in no position to be mad about the choices you’ve made. I’m not even in the same  _ system  _ as you. If I was mad, that would just make more of a bad person.”

 

“Don’t say that.” Dongmin leans forward. “You’re not a bad person.”

 

_ If only you knew the things I’ve done.  _ “I don’t know how you can stand me,” Bin jokes. “I can hardly stand myself.”

 

Dongmin rolls his eyes. “I think you’re being a bit overdramatic. Must be all the space radiation messing with your brain.”

 

Bin laughs. “Yeah, must be.”

 

Silence builds between them for a few seconds. When Dongmin speaks again, his voice is soft and laced with caution.

 

“Are you really sure you’re okay with me dating someone else?”

 

_ No. I’m not. I wanted to fix our relationship so that I can spend time with you when I go back to Mars in a week. I wanted to fix our relationship so I can hold you when I go back. I was even thinking about quitting this soon and taking up a new position to help the rebellion in a different way because of you.  _

 

Bin nods. “I’m sure. You’ve moved on, so I need to do the same, and I’ll do my best to do that. All I care about is that you’re happy.” He swallows. “Does he make you happy?”

 

Dongmin bites his bottom lip, barely hiding a smile. He nods.

 

“Good.” Bin stands. “I should get going. We need to make sure everything is ready in cargo for when we land.”

 

Dongmin scrambles to his feet. “Okay, well, don’t be a stranger. Okay? I miss my friend.”

 

_ Friend.  _ “Yeah, I’ll call again when I can.”

 

Bin stands still as the CTL system powers down. Even as he’s tossed into the quiet, he stays where he is. Dongmin is with someone else. Dongmin is  _ happy  _ with someone else. Bin sighs, hanging his head. He has to be happy for Dongmin. The other option is to force himself between Dongmin and the other guy and possibly ruin Dongmin’s happiness in the process. He won’t do that to Dongmin.

 

Minhyuk swings the door open. “Wrap it up, we need you in cargo— Have you just been standing here the whole time?”

 

Bin huffs. “What? No, of course not. The call just ended.”

 

Minhyuk steps out of the room then back in. “The monitor is off. It shuts down after five minutes of no use. What’s the deal?”

 

Bin shakes his head. “Nothing. Let’s go to cargo.”

 

* * *

 

Seunghwan stares at the boxes on the floor, hands on his hips. He doesn’t know as much about strong relationships and deep connections as others his age might, but the love in the other’s eyes— Seunghwan assumes that had been Bin. Dongmin had turned to face him with a smile on his face that had fallen away quickly upon seeing him. He frowns at the boxes.

 

Dongmin’s arms wind around his waist from behind. “Find your omni-driver?”

 

“Huh? Oh, not yet.” Seunghwan turns in Dongmin’s arms, hugging him loosely. “That was Bin, wasn’t it?”

 

Dongmin nods, no verbal answer given.

 

“What did he say?”

 

“Nothing, really. I mean, he knows I’m with someone— with  _ you _ . He says that’s okay.”

 

Seunghwan takes a step back to look at Dongmin. “He wasn’t upset? Even after what was going on between you two before?”

 

Dongmin pauses before shaking his head. “He seemed fine about it.” He grins, and Seunghwan’s heart swells. He really likes Dongmin’s smile. “Which is good for us. It’s just us now, right?”

 

Seunghwan pulls Dongmin into his chest, kissing the top of his head. “Right.”


	13. Alpha Centauri System

Jinwoo stares through the small window at the fading spot that is Amphion Station. A sudden change in course has them heading towards Mars three days ahead of schedule. They could’ve made it to Mars already if Director Choi had informed them of the cut of their schedule before they had made the trip from Theseus. Jinwoo frowns. He could have Myungjun in his arms by now.

 

He presses and holds the button beside the window to shut it, staring at the stars until the last possible second. He might not return to the Alpha Centauri system for a long time. Kyklos rarely sends cargo ships to the same sectors over and over. 

 

A beep from Jinwoo’s watch distracts his thoughts. He furrows his brows as he swipes on the small screen to his messages, tapping the most recent one without checking the ID. 

 

  1. _Remember the bench?_



 

Myungjun’s name and ID flash at the top of the small screen.

  
  


Jinwoo’s gut flips over itself. The single letter is a clear code to any rebellion operative.

 

Myungjun has been caught. 

 

He thought he was being watched, but Jinwoo assumed it would be okay. Jinwoo assumed Myungjun wouldn’t get found out. He had assumed Myungjun would stay safe and lay low.

 

_ Remember the bench? _

 

When Jinwoo had yet to be assigned as captain of any ship, he and Myungjun would eat lunch together in an open market half an hour from the Syndicate’s campus. Their breaks together remain some of the happiest memories Jinwoo has from his time training. Almost every day they took the bus from the Syndicate base to the market to talk and try some new food neither of them had had (an easy feat at the open market). And almost every day they had sat on the same bench to eat.

 

Jinwoo taps to expand the keyboard, the generator on his watch sparkling for a second before displaying the holographic letters. He types a vague message as fast as his fingers will let him.

 

_ Three days out. Sit tight. _

 

Jinwoo only takes a few steps before his watch dings again. A rope of anxiety ties itself around his throat as he reads the message over and over. He wasn’t fast enough. Myungjun has no clue if his message has even been delivered.

 

_ ID #A05kj275 is not available due to malfunction of signal receiver. Please try again later. _

 

Jinwoo clears his expression and marches the short distance down the hall to the secondary crew room. Sanha looks up from his box of photos, quickly putting them to the side.

 

“Jinwoo?” He stands. “Is something wrong?”

 

“MJ,” Jinwoo whispers. “Compromised.”

 

Sanha’s eyes widen. “Are we—”

 

“We’re fine for now. Tell Bin and Minhyuk so they’re prepared when we land. I’ll try and reach an RFL and figure out what to do.”

 

Sanha nods, slinking out of the room ahead of Jinwoo. With no knowledge of where the rest of the crew is, Jinwoo has to act fast. He needs to switch to the secure rebellion CTL channel and hope for a response. Jinwoo alters the CTL settings, glancing to his right every few seconds to assure that the hall stays empty. He’s taking a risk with Director Hyunggeun on board, with loyal Kyklos employees on board. If any one of them saw him, they would know. If any one of them checks the CTL room while he’s inside, they’ll know. Jinwoo sends the CTL request and, with one last glance down the hall, shuts himself in the room.

 

One minute passes, then two. Jinwoo counts silently to himself. If there’s no answer by the end of the fourth minute, he’ll end the transmission and clear any evidence of it from the ship’s systems.

 

Jinwoo’s heart rate increases again as the lasers converge on the other half of the room. The woman is thin but bent forward, with a heavy black jacket swallowing her torso. She barks something in a foreign language, so Jinwoo rushes to plug his TLM into his ear.

 

“State your name and clearance code,” she repeats, her foreign words echoed in Korean by the device in Jinwoo’s ear.

 

“Park Jinwoo. Clearance code Romeo-Uniform-Lima.”

 

Her demeanor changes, softening slightly though she remains as composed as all the fleet leaders Jinwoo has had the  _ joy  _ of meeting. “Captain Park. We’ve been trying to reach you. We have a message for one of your team members, Moon Bin. Seeing as you’ve reached out first, there must be something on your mind. What’s the meaning of your contact?”

 

Jinwoo lingers on her words. A message for Bin? At her prompting, however, Jinwoo’s mind flashes back to Myungjun.

“An operative within Kylos has been compromised. How do I proceed?”

 

“Follow your assignment, Captain.” She sets her hands on her hips. “You do have an objective, don’t you?”

 

Jinwoo hesitates. “Yes, but I thought— Shouldn’t I try to get him out of there?”

 

“He knows what to do if he’s been compromised, and so do you.”

 

Jinwoo had gotten the speech in a CTL transmission a month before he left Mars. It had left a scar on his soul. The thought of Myungjun doing something like that—

 

“I can’t accept that.” Jinwoo stands up taller. “We have to be able to do  _ something _ . I know he has valuable information— information that could possibly change the tide for us.”

 

“His name?”

 

Jinwoo blinks. “What?”

 

“What is his name?” she snaps. “I know the names of our best field operatives. If I don’t know his name, he isn’t worth saving.”

 

“Myungjun,” Jinwoo says quickly. “Kim Myungjun. On Mars.”

 

She pauses for a moment. Hope swells in Jinwoo’s chest like a cheap balloon.

 

“I’ve never heard his name. You will leave him and stick with your job, Captain Park. If you don’t, we’ll have no choice but to see it as a sign of faulty loyalties. You’ve been warned. Relay this message to Moon Bin: We know his connection to Lee Dongmin, the son of the Syndicate’s Lee Wonshik.”

 

Jinwoo’s brows pull together. “What?”

 

She huffs. “Lee Dongmin is the son of Lee Wonshik. After the information you managed to glean from Cho Minsoo and hand over on Theseus, we need to follow up. Moon Bin’s close relationship with Lee Dongmin is no secret to the rebellion. We’ve been watching carefully to assess his loyalty to the cause, and this will be an excellent test. Instruct Moon Bin to gather information from Lee Dongmin about his father. Be discreet.”

 

The connection ends abruptly, leaving Jinwoo in confused silence. Dongmin is Lee Wonshik’s son? Jinwoo had never made the connection before, but he hadn’t seen much of Dongmin. His only knowledge of him is from Bin. Surely someone had something wrong. Bin’s Dongmin couldn’t be the son of someone like Mr. Lee. The Syndicate was too large for a coincidence like that. 

 

Jinwoo sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. 

 

_ The CTL monitor. _

 

Jinwoo steps into the hall, fingers flying over the display to clear the log and reset the system to the normal Syndicate standard. They can’t get caught now. He has to get back to Mars and find Myungjun. It doesn’t matter what the fleet leaders say or what the protocols require he do. He won’t let Myungjun be alone if he can save him.

 

The pit in Jinwoo’s stomach grows when he arrives on the bridge. Hyunggeun is seated at one of the flight consoles, log folders on full display. Jinwoo clenches his jaw. Did he not order the bridge to never be left unattended?

 

“What are you doing?” Jinwoo walks towards Hyunggeun with his shoulders back, eyes narrowed. His rebellion training had taught him how to intimidate the enemy.

 

“I was curious where you’d been before coming to Juno.” Hyunggeun turns in his chair, flashing a smile at Jinwoo. “You have a lot of gaps, you know.”

 

Jinwoo nods, stopping a few feet away. “No reason to land unauthorized when we have no business being anywhere but the places on our schedule.”

 

“Really?” Hyunggeun smirks. “Soeun was telling me you took a short vacation on Atlas not long ago after stopping on Hera. I checked your logs, and the schedule lists neither Hera nor Atlas.”

 

“You shouldn’t have clearance to access that.”

 

Hyunggeun shakes his head rapidly. “I don’t. I was curious, though, since I know Atlas doesn’t have any direct association with Kyklos, so I made a few calls last night and got remote access. It’s crazy what you can do with some programming.” 

 

The smile that comes across Hyunggeun’s face makes Jinwoo wary. He nods once, glances at the computer, and leaves. There’s nothing left on the system. Myungjun made sure they knew how to delete everything and remove all traces from their internal systems. At the earliest, Hyunggeun might have information good enough to take them down in a week. By then, Jinwoo is sure they’ll be far from Mars, far from the Syndicate, and far from danger.

 

Jinwoo finds Bin in the fabrication bay. He shuts the door and double checks that they’re alone before closing the distance and lowering his voice.

 

“The rebellion knows who Dongmin is, and they want answers.”

 

Bin takes a step back. “Answers? What does that mean?”

 

“Dongmin is Lee Wonshik’s son.”

 

Bin turns his head away, looking anywhere but at Jinwoo. His jaw is tight, lips pressed together.

 

Jinwoo scoffs. “You knew. That’s why you reacted so badly to Cho—” Jinwoo sighs, looking up at the ceiling. “The rebellion is already questioning your loyalties, Bin. They want you to get information about Wonshik out of Dongmin when we’re back on Mars.”

 

“What?” Bin shakes his head. “No way. I’m not dragging him into this. This is the exact reason why I’ve been trying to keep my distance. He doesn’t deserve to be caught up—”

 

“He already is. Get over it. He’s Mr. Lee’s son, and the rebellion will get their hands on him and what he knows one way or another. It’s easier to get to him than it is to get to Mr. Lee himself, so you can either get the information out of him nicely or wait to hear on a news report that he’s suddenly gone missing.”

 

Bin raises a brow. “Was that a threat? Are you—” Bin shakes his head. “I’m not here to be toyed with. I’m here to take down those assholes with as little fall out as possible. I won’t do it.”

 

“You will.” He doesn’t want to force Bin, really, but he needs the rebellion to focus on someone other than himself. He needs to get to Myungjun. “You’re going straight to Dongmin when we land, and that is an order from your captain and unit leader.”

 

“You can’t just take it out on me because MJ got caught.” Bin crosses his arms. “You  _ know  _ we’re not supposed to get so attached to people. He probably told you that himself, didn’t he? Yet here you are, strung out because he got himself caught.”

 

Jinwoo jabs a finger into Bin’s chest. Maybe he does want Dongmin involved, if only because it’s his fault Myungjun is caught. Son of Lee Wonshik, the reason Myungjun is now compromised—

 

“Dongmin is the reason MJ is in the situation he is,” Jinwoo snaps. “MJ has worked his ass off for all of us, to get us information and to keep us on track, and it’s the fault of your— your  _ toy  _ that he’s in this situation at all.”

 

“ _ Toy _ ?” Bin brushes Jinwoo’s hand away from him. “You need to relax—”

 

Jinwoo doesn’t want to listen to him. He turns on his toes and leaves quickly, heading into the cargo bay. He needs to think. He needs to process.

 

Sitting amongst the crates, Jinwoo lets himself go. He shoves the heels of his hands into his eyes to stop the hot tears from escaping. Myungjun is the reason he’s doing what he is. Jinwoo doesn’t want anybody to go through what Myungjun had to as a kid. He wants to protect him. He  _ needs  _ to protect him, to make everything right for him. Jinwoo loves Myungjun, that he can’t deny, but that love may be his downfall one day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to check out vonseal's part to find out what happened to Myungjun!


	14. Mars

Sanha sighs, tearing his eyes away from the Mars scenery outside of the bus to focus his eyes on Minhyuk instead. Ever the one for vacation, Minhyuk’s eyes are glued to one of the books he just bought at their last stop. His claim to need something to entertain himself for their short stay on the planet makes Sanha smile. There’s a planet for them to explore, at least for a little; one that neither of them grew up on to boot.

 

Sanha covers the book page with his large hand, effectively gaining Minhyuk’s attention. Minhyuk closes the book and Sanha pulls his fingers from the page.

 

“Do you think Jinwoo will find MJ in time?”

 

Minhyuk frowns, folding his hands over the book. “I think it’s stupid that he’s going against orders at all.”

 

“You’d do it if it were Bin in MJ’s position, wouldn’t you?”

 

Minhyuk stares at his hands.

 

“Or if it were me?”

 

Minhyuk sighs. “Don’t play hypotheticals.”

 

“Then I’ll play ‘getting to know Park Minhyuk’.” Sanha beams. “How’s that sound?”

 

“Fine.” He rubs the front of his neck. “I guess I haven’t been very open.”

 

“Exactly!” Sanha shifts in his seat to face Minhyuk more, his back pressed against the side of the bus. “You know I have two older brothers. Do you have any siblings?”

 

“A younger brother. Junggeon.” He smiles. “Four years younger than me, but a lot braver.”

 

Sanha scoffs. “You’re the bravest person I know. Except for maybe Jinwoo. Or Bin.”

 

“Or MJ.”

 

“You two grew up friends, right?”

 

Minhyuk nods slowly. “Yeah. We only met because some kids were picking on me and he stepped in.”

 

Sanha raises a brow. “You got bullied as a kid?”

 

“And as a teenager. It got worse when MJ left until I broke one of the guys’ knees with a well placed kick.”

 

Sanha’s jaw drops at the admission. “You—  _ Minhyuk _ .”

 

Minhyuk smirks. “What? He had it coming.”

 

Sanha shakes his head. “I never took you for the violent type.”

 

“I’m only violent when I need to be.” Minhyuk looks through the window behind Sanha. “Where are we going, anyway?”

 

Pride swells in Sanha’s chest for a ridiculous reason. “We’re going to my favorite place. I used to hang out there a lot when I was training.”

 

“With friends, I assume?”

 

Sanha shoves Minhyuk’s shoulder playfully. “Of course with friends! I have a lot of friends, you know. I used to come here mostly with Bomin and Sunwoo. They weren’t training for Kyklos, but I met them there and then we just kept meeting up.”

 

“When was the last time you saw them?”

 

Sanha furrows his brows. “A couple of weeks before we left.”

 

“Some friends. They didn’t even wish you good luck, did they?”

 

Sanha frowns. “They were busy.”

 

Minhyuk offers no further comments, thankfully for Sanha. Perhaps  _ friends  _ gives too strong of a connotation between himself and Bomin and Sunwoo. They were acquaintances, then. Sanha nods to himself. 

 

As the bus rolls to a stop ten minutes later, Minhyuk laughs softly. Sanha looks at him sharply.

 

“This is where you wanted to bring me?” Minhyuk questions as he stands from his seat.

 

Sanha follows Minhyuk off the bus. “Is that strange?” He looks at the small store, trinkets hanging in the windows and benches set in front.

 

Minhyuk shakes his head, smiling. “Not really. I used to go there a lot, though.” He points at the family owned restaurant nextdoor. “Had dinner there with Bin and a few friends practically every night during the first few months of training. Stepped into your little shop a few times, too.”

 

Sanha pouts. “This was supposed to be a  _ surprise _ .”

 

Minhyuk doesn’t comfort him. “We should grab some food while we’re here. Have you ever been in?”

 

Sanha straightens, shaking his head. “I would just show up here and order something to drink and we would hang out for a couple of hours.”

 

Minhyuk hums and starts towards the restaurant. “I’m surprised we never ran into each other. When did you come out here?”

 

“On the weekends, usually. Sometimes we would meet in the mornings.”

 

“That’s why, then.” Minhyuk opens the door for Sanha, following him in. “We never came here unless it was for dinner during the week.”

 

Sanha looks over the restaurant. It’s smaller inside than it seemed to be. Several tables with a few chairs each are pushed to the edges of the room, with a large empty area in the middle. Aside from Minhyuk and himself, only an elderly couple are seated at one of the tables. Minhyuk touches him lightly on the wrist and gestures to a table on the opposite side of the room.

 

The kitchen door swings open, and a middle aged man with dark skin and even darker hair pokes his head out. He calls something out, which Sanha assumes is a greeting. He rushes to push his TLM into his ear.

 

Minhyuk smiles politely, waving a hand in greeting as the other puts on his TLM. “How have you been?”

 

“Exhausted,” the man says, his voice echoed by the computerized male voice in Sanha’s ear. “You wait here, and I’ll fix up something for you an’ your friend.”

 

The man steps back into the kitchen, and the door swings shut behind him. There’s an odd silence left by his absence.

 

“That’s Mr. Dolood,” Minhyuk supplies. “Never could understand a thing he said before, but he was always conversational.”

 

Sanha raises a brow. “You had a conversation with a guy you couldn’t understand?”

 

“Well, he has a TLM. He could understand us.”

 

Sanha snorts in amusement. 

 

“Excuse me for a second, though.” Minhyuk jerks a thumb at the elderly couple. “I don’t think they realized it’s me that walked in, but I used to talk with them, too. I’ll be right back.”

 

Sanha watches Minhyuk make his way to the table across the small room and introduce himself. Recognition blossoms on their faces. Minhyuk pulls up a chair to chat with them for a while. Without meaning to, Sanha has discovered a new side of Minhyuk. It’s a nice side, warm and friendly. Sanha forces himself to stop staring, focusing his eyes on the table. He was never that outgoing during training, but Minhyuk seems to make connections with people easily even if they aren’t very meaningful. 

 

Sanha stops himself from sighing. He should be happy. 

 

_ I am happy _ . 

 

He’s happy.


	15. Mars

Jinwoo chews on his bottom lip and bounces his leg. The bus ride had never felt so long before. The familiar shops and people on either side of the road blur in Jinwoo’s peripheral vision. What if he’s too late? What if Myungjun has been caught? What if they’ve set a trap and are simply using Myungjun as bait? Perhaps the message hadn’t come from Myungjun. Perhaps it had been sent by security agent to get Jinwoo there. As the bus comes closer to the open market, Jinwoo’s anxiety levels skyrocket. What if he’s too late?

 

He’s the first off the bus, making his way through the groups of people and stopping only momentarily to check those who might be Myungjun. Jinwoo makes it to the bench without running into Myungjun himself, much to Jinwoo’s dismay. He sits on the bench with his heart in his throat and eyes scanning those around him. If he wants to find Myungjun, he can’t get himself caught. He takes several measured breaths in an attempt to slow his pulse. His erratic trip from the bus stop to the bench has likely gained him some unwanted attention already.

 

_ Myungjun is smart _ , he thinks.  _ He would’ve known how to hide. _

 

If any of them could handle himself in a hard situation, it would be Myungjun. The determined look in Myungjun’s eyes when he had first told Jinwoo about the rebellion flashes in his mind’s eye. He’s done this longer than any of them. He’s been trained for this kind of thing. He knows all the tricks.

 

An out of place flyer catches Jinwoo’s attention. His brows draw together as he crosses the path to the booths and takes the paper off of the post. The booth owner glances at him, nodding once and winking.  _ An ally of the rebellion.  _ Jinwoo scans the flyer. Scrawled in Myungjun’s writing on the bottom corner are four numbers,  _ 1430 _ . Jinwoo’s heart lodges itself in his throat once more as he checks his watch.  _ 1433. _

 

Myungjun was just here. Myungjun should  _ be  _ here. Jinwoo turns around, searching the crowd. His height offers him to advantage, eye level with many of the people walking around him. He knows it’s a stupid move, but he climbs up on the bench anyway, now several feet taller than anybody else and earning stares from those around him. He pays them no attention as he scans the crowd.

 

To the left, a bit isolated from the others around him, is a shorter man in a dark jacket with a hood pulled over his head. Jinwoo jumps from the bench and closes the distance.  _ Myungjun. It’s Myungjun. _

 

The confused face of the man as he turns around after Jinwoo grabs him is not the face of Myungjun.

 

Jinwoo sags. He had been so close. Surely this was his last chance to find Myungjun here. If Myungjun was as smart as Jinwoo believed him to be, he would be moving on soon. He would probably leave the city, maybe steal enough money to have facial reconstruction surgery. 

 

A hand grasps Jinwoo’s upper arm, words harsh in his ear from a melodic voice that only sounds better in person. “Come on.”

 

Jinwoo turns, walking after Myungjun quickly, wanting to grab him tightly and swing him in circles. The crowd parts before Myungjun as they go further from the market. Myungjun ducks into an alley between two buildings once they’re away from the crowds. In the unsecure cover offered by the buildings, Jinwoo wraps his arms around Myungjun’s waist and hugs him tightly.

 

“Jun,” Jinwoo whispers, pulling back to look him in the eyes. 

 

He looks tired. The dark circles beneath his eyes are prominent, and his shoulders sag under the weight of defeat. Jinwoo cups Myungjun’s cheek carefully, smiling slightly.

 

“You’re okay,” he breathes. “Jun, I’m so sorry. I wish I could’ve gotten here sooner, but I had to shake off the crew and get over here without raising any alarms. I should’ve been here to protect you.”

 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Myungjun pats Jinwoo’s chest lightly. “Not now, though. You can’t start crying here. We need to get somewhere safe.”

 

Jinwoo hadn’t realized he was almost crying. He wipes his eyes hurriedly. “My ship. We can go back there.”

 

Myungjun stares at him. “Are you sure? What about your crew?”

 

Jinwoo links their hands together, already tugging him out of the alley. “They’re out. Sanha and Minhyuk went for a day together. Bin went to see Dongmin on orders of command. I all but kicked everybody else off. It wasn’t that hard, though. Being in space isn’t the most comfortable, so they’re taking the vacation time gratefully.” 

 

Myungjun swings their hands gently, and Jinwoo’s heart soars. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed Myungjun. CTL can’t compare to the real thing. Being able to hold Myungjun’s hand and see the sun highlight the different hues in his hair— Jinwoo locks the memory of the moment away to keep him happy on a dreary day.

 

Jinwoo tears his eyes off Myungjun before he can be caught staring and scans the path ahead of them for Syndicate security or anybody who may give them a hard time. He zones out for a moment, too focused on taking in their surroundings. He knows Myungjun is saying something, but he doesn’t know what.

 

A figure comes around the corner a block away. The deep shade of their green jacket and the glint of an emerald logo embroidered upon it sets Jinwoo’s fight or flight instinct into overdrive. There’s nowhere for them to duck into to hide, and even that would be suspicious. Myungjun is still going on about something, but Jinwoo can’t let him finish his sentence. He pushes Myungjun against the wall, holding Myungjun’s cheeks in a way he hopes obscures most of his features, and presses their lips together.

 

Myungjun’s lips are soft. His mouth is warm. Maybe Jinwoo leans into it a little too much, his tongue slipping against Myungjun’s. He hears the hurried footsteps of the security officer recede and he pulls his lips from Myungjun’s.

 

“Sorry,” he says immediately, dropping his hands from Myungjun’s cheeks. “You were talking and there was a security officer. I had to do something, or he would’ve recognized you. Maybe. We could’ve been fine, I don’t know. That’s a risk I couldn’t take, though. I said I would protect you, and I’m going to—”

 

Myungjun grips the front of his shirt and pulls him in. Jinwoo steadies himself with a hand against the wall beside Myungjun’s shoulder and the other on his waist as their lips meet again. It’s different this time, but it still manages to make Jinwoo’s heart race like the possibility of being found out had moments before. Jinwoo almost doesn’t want to pull away, but he does when Myungjun moves first.

 

“Oops,” Myungjun giggles, flattening Jinwoo’s shirt. “I just— I’ve wanted to do that since before you left.”

 

Jinwoo smiles so wide that it hurts. “Come on,” he murmurs, sliding his fingers around Myungjun’s hand once more.

 

Luckily for Myungjun, they don’t run into any other security officers. Unfortunately, Jinwoo doesn’t get another excuse to kiss Myungjun. He continues to bite his bottom lip as they walk hand in hand. As they near the ship docks, Myungjun links his arm with Jinwoo’s, pressing closer. One person walks by, mostly ignoring them aside from a polite nod. Jinwoo plays it safe, skirting around the outer edge of the docks and ducking between ships to avoid walking out in the open. He can’t be seen taking someone onto the ship.

 

Jinwoo only finally relaxes when the ship doors have slid shut behind them. He pulls Myungjun to himself by his waist, his other hand sliding into Myungjun’s hair.

 

“You’re okay,” Jinwoo whispers, pressing his forehead and nose to Myungjun’s. 

 

Myungjun nods. “I’m safe.”

 

Jinwoo closes his eyes, letting himself rest as his heart rate returns to normal, but it hardly lasts half a minute. The doors slide open and he jumps, pushing Myungjun behind himself.

 

Bin stops just inside the door, staring at them as it slides shut. Nobody speaks until Bin finally breaks the silence.

 

“So you got him.”

 

Jinwoo nods. “And you didn’t go see Dongmin.”

 

Bin shrugs. “I’ll go see him tomorrow. You said we’ll be here for a few days, and I wanted to see my family.”

 

Jinwoo lets it slide. He won’t chastise Bin for doing what he wants as long as he gets done what needs to be. Bin climbs up the ladder, disappearing into the upper decks of the ship. 

 

Jinwoo turns to Myungjun once more, cupping his cheeks and kissing him lightly. The day has been good. They’re almost in the green. Just a little longer and they’ll be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think saying sorry would cut it? These chapters have been late more often than not, but school is just kicking my ass and I haven't been feeling too great. Things will be on track from now on! Back to our regularly scheduled Monday updates. Make sure you check out vonseal's part, too, to see things from Myungjun's perspective~


	16. Mars

It hadn’t been hard to find Dongmin’s address. A quick (albeit illegal) check into the Kyklos database told him all he needed to know. Bin walks by unused house after unused house. Dongmin’s words echo in his head.  _ The employee houses around here are mostly empty and shut down.  _ Would it have been so hard for the company to get just one other house finished so Dongmin wouldn’t have to share with his new boyfriend? Bin assumes that man had been his boyfriend. He wouldn’t move in with someone he was seeing casually, right? Bin swallows, a bitter taste stinging his throat. 

 

The last house on the row is the only one operational. It’s Dongmin’s, assigned to him by his father though he doesn’t have a job with Kyklos yet. Bin slows as he draws closer. In this block of houses, it’s quiet. The wind whistles through the space between the houses as he stops. Light shines from within the house, and someone passes by one of the tall windows. Would Jinwoo believe him if he said Dongmin wasn’t home?

 

As he stands rooted in place, the front door of the house swings open. Gentle music pours out from within, carrying Dongmin onto the low porch. He takes the single step with ease. Bin watches in silence as Dongmin swipes on his watch and drops his wrist. He’s as beautiful as Bin remembered, more beautiful than anything a CTL room could capture. The mid morning sun turns the edges of his hair golden as he picks up his head and meets Bin’s eyes. He only takes one more step before freezing in place.

 

“Bin?” Dongmin takes a hesitant step forward, glancing back at the house before turning back to him. “I’m not asleep, right?”

 

Bin shakes his head. “Not unless I am, too.”

 

“You’re—”

 

They meet somewhere in the middle. Dongmin’s arms squeeze around Bin’s shoulders almost painfully tight. Bin presses his face into the crook of Dongmin’s shoulder and breathes deeply. Tension seeps out of his body. More than three months since he’d last held Dongmin in his arms, but Bin’s hands still find their comfortable places on Dongmin’s waist as they part from their hug. Bin almost kisses him, but resists. This isn’t the time or place to be doing that.

 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Dongmin laughs. “You should’ve told me!”

 

Bin ducks his head. “I didn’t know how to.”

 

“How about ‘Hey, Dongmin, I’m gonna be home way earlier than I thought so expect me to drop by unannounced soon’?” Dongmin scoffs, hands cupping Bin’s jaw. His eyes soften as his thumbs drag over Bin’s cheekbones. “I missed you.”

 

“I missed you, too. I wish I could’ve called you every day, but space travel isn’t very nice to CTL.”

 

Dongmin chuckles. He bites his bottom lip before dropping his hands from Bin’s face onto his shoulders and then off his body entirely. “I really could’ve used some heads up, though.”

 

Bin rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry. I’ll remember that for next time.”

 

Dongmin’s expression shifts. A wall goes up, his smile falling away as he swallows. Bin shouldn’t have said that. He shouldn’t have mentioned leaving when he’s just gotten back.

 

Dongmin recovers before Bin does. “Come inside. I can’t imagine why you’d come out of your way to see me when you could spend time with your family, but I won’t be a bad host.”

 

Forbidden words almost slip by Bin’s tongue. He bites his cheek and follows Dongmin inside.

 

The house is smaller than Bin imagined. The living room and kitchen share a space, divided only by the change in flooring, with the living room to the front and the kitchen in the back. Three doors lead into what Bin assumes to be the bedroom, bathroom, and CTL room. Aside from very basic furnishings, however, it’s mostly empty.

 

“Haven’t had a lot of time to decorate.” Dongmin walks around the couch, taking a seat. “Come on, sit down. What made your crew come back so early?”

 

Bin sighs, sinking into the couch. “Schedule just got cut. Our trustworthy, reliable Captain Jinwoo decided to keep it from us until the last minute.”

 

Dongmin smiles. “Quite the captain, I’d assume.”

 

“Oh, he’s  _ great _ ,” Bin teases. “We picked up someone from the research and development team on Juno, too. Had to get him back to HQ as soon as we could, so here we are.”

 

Dongmin reaches across the short distance between them, settling his hand on Bin’s knee. “Well, I’m glad you came to see me. I was here thinking I wouldn’t see you for another few months at least.”

 

One of the doors opens with a small creak, and Dongmin’s hand flies back into his lap. A tall man with dark wavy hair emerges from the bathroom, brows furrowing for a moment before he smiles.

 

“You’re Bin, right?” He comes closer, extending his arm across the back of the couch with his hand outstretched. “I’m Seunghwan, Dongmin’s boyfriend.”

 

His words are delivered like a punch, causing Bin’s brain to short circuit for too long. Seunghwan retracts his hand, resting it on Dongmin’s shoulder instead.

 

“Should I go to the store, then?” Seunghwan asks, eyes trained on Dongmin. 

 

Bin hates it. He hates the way Seunghwan looks at him. He thought this would be fine. After three months of not seeing Dongmin in person, surely he could’ve—would’ve—been over his feelings. He’d convinced Dongmin he was, too, so he could be happy with Seunghwan. Now he won’t let that stand. Bin  _ knows  _ he should leave it alone. He should leave Dongmin’s house and let him be happy with Seunghwan. In fact, it would probably be best if he cut himself out of Dongmin’s life entirely. No calls, no messages, no visits. He can’t do that.

 

“Is that okay?” Dongmin looks up at Seunghwan. “I don’t want to bother you—”

 

“It’s no bother.” Seunghwan bends, kissing the top of Dongmin’s head. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

 

Bin and Dongmin sit quietly while Seunghwan departs, and the silence continues even once the door has shut with a gentle thud. Bin’s eyes are trained on the coffee table. Somewhere in the house, an analog clock ticks, each click echoing in his head.

 

“Bin.”

 

The gentle tone of Dongmin’s voice sounds like an alarm to Bin. His hand on the couch tightens into a fist.

 

“Bin, look at me.”

 

Against his better judgement, he does. Dongmin’s eyes are warm, and the wall that had gone up has crumbled. Bin is a statue as Dongmin scoots closer on the couch, as his arm snakes over Bin’s shoulders, as his other hand cups Bin’s jaw. Dongmin’s lips are softer than he remembered. He leans into him, his fist unfurling so his hand can find Dongmin’s waist. As Dongmin leans closer, however, Bin forces himself away from Dongmin’s lips.

 

“We can’t, Dongmin,” he breathes. “Seunghwan—”

 

“Don’t think about him right now.” Dongmin slides his hand into Bin’s hair. “Please. I’ve missed you too much.”

 

He shouldn’t. Bin  _ knows  _ he shouldn’t, but he does anyway. He pulls Dongmin onto his lap, their lips crashing together. For now, he’ll let himself enjoy Dongmin’s company. He’ll be gone in a couple of days, anyway, and then he’ll never contact Dongmin again. He’ll remove himself from Dongmin’s life for Dongmin’s sake. He won’t jeopardize his long-term happiness.

 

For now, Bin will let his hands slide over Dongmin’s sides as he breathes him in.

 

* * *

 

 

Bin stares at the coffee table. He can barely see it with how little light is coming from outside. The analog clock continues to count each second he sits awake on the couch in Dongmin and Seunghwan’s living room. Just one door away, Dongmin lays asleep, likely in Seunghwan’s embrace. He should’ve gone back to the ship to sleep, but it’d gotten too late and Dongmin had convinced him to stay. He doesn’t want to leave without telling Dongmin, and he doesn’t have the guts to poke his head into the bedroom to wake him up.

Leaning forward with elbows on his knees, Bin sighs deeply. He stands, folding the blanket Dongmin had given him before setting it on the coffee table. He’ll leave without telling him, then. Jinwoo will just have to deal with not having any information. Bin moves carefully so he doesn’t knock anything over on his way to the door. Scooping up his shoes, he undoes the lock and pushes the door open.

“Where’re you off to?”

Bin whirls around. Dongmin rubs at his eyes sleepily. The large shirt he wears has slid off one shoulder. Bin is a statue once again as Dongmin walks to him, slipping his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder.

“Dongmin—”

“You weren’t just going to leave, right?”

“I—”

“You can’t just leave me like this, Bin. I mean it. That’s not okay.”

“I know.”

“So why were you going to leave?”

Bin swallows.

“Tell me.” Dongmin pulls away far enough to look at him. Though it’s obvious he’s only half awake, his expression is serious. “What’s wrong?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Not here. Not like this. Not—” Bin closes his eyes. “Not knowing you’re in there with Seunghwan.”

Dongmin is quiet for a moment, his eyes glossed over as he thinks. Finally he blinks, looking up at Bin. “Let’s take a walk. We shouldn’t wake him.”

Bin steps outside to put on his shoes, and Dongmin joins him in house slippers a moment later. He shuts the door carefully and begins down the street in the dim light. Bin follows behind a few steps until Dongmin stops, turning to face him.

“We’re walking  _ together _ ,” he sighs. “You’re acting like we’re strangers.”

Bin stops at Dongmin’s side. “We might as well be. It would be better, wouldn’t it?”

“What?” Dongmin stares at him. “You’re not serious, are you? Tonight, were you—” He sighs. “You were going to just leave and not talk to me anymore, weren’t you?”

Bin stares at the ground. “I thought it best. I don’t want to get between you and Seunghwan.”

“You’re not. I’ve told him about you. He knows that things between us are complicated. That we never made things official or cut things off.” Dongmin starts walking again, so Bin keeps pace with him. “I imagine he’d kind of expect us to be trying to figure things out. It’s a lot easier to do that when you’re actually here instead of off on who knows what planet.”

Bin watches their feet for a while. Dongmin’s slippers scrape against the concrete beneath them, while Bin’s heavy boots thud solidly with each step. 

“So what is it, then?” Bin slows. “I don’t want to say you have to choose, but—”

“But I do.” Dongmin faces him. “And I don’t know. You— I really like you. I mean, I  _ really  _ like you, Bin. I can think of it a hundred different ways and always come up short. Maybe I should’ve cut things off with you when you left. Maybe I shouldn’t have let myself fall into Seunghwan. I didn’t, and I did, though. And I don’t even know where you stand.”

“You do.”

Dongmin shakes his head. “I really don’t. First you were nice, and then we kissed before you left. You kept in touch and then all the sudden you were just  _ awful _ . And then Seunghwan, and you apologized and I forgave you.” He bows his head. “Maybe I was stupid for doing that.”

“I was stupid for trying to push you away at all.” Bin steps up to Dongmin, capturing his hands. “I like you, Dongmin, really. Being out there, though— I meant it when I said it’s not for everybody. That you might not like it. That it isn’t always fun like I pretend it is. We visit some bad places sometimes. It’s not always as safe as it’s supposed to be. I lashed out because I don’t want you to be hurt if something happens to me.”

Dongmin scoffs, smiling at him. “And you thought it’d be as easy as dismissing everything I say?”

Bin laughs shortly. “I guess I was stupid for thinking I could get out that easy.”

Dongmin pulls Bin to him, and Bin lets himself be pulled. He presses his palms to Dongmin’s back, holding his body close as their lips move in tandem. He  _ is  _ stupid. Bin can’t give up on Dongmin no matter how hard he tries. His feelings run too deep, too far to be cut off. Dongmin’s hands slide through his hair as he sighs against Bin’s lips. The sound is beautiful and Bin finds himself pressing closer, parting his lips against Dongmin’s as his feeble attempt at cutting himself out of Dongmin’s life becomes a memory. 

Dongmin pulls away first with a breathless gasp of Bin’s name. “We shouldn’t, here. If he wakes up and just looks outside…”

Bin glances back at the house, taking Dongmin’s hand with a smirk. He tugs him onto the porch of one of the houses, shadow falling over both of them as he pushes Dongmin against the wall and covers his body with his own. Their lips part again, Dongmin wrinkling Bin’s shirt as he grabs at the sides of it. Bin hears a subtle click and pulls away, turning his head to Dongmin and Seunghwan’s home again.

“Did you hear—”

Dongmin turns Bin’s head back to him, kissing him once more. “I didn’t hear anything other than your voice.”

Bin kisses Dongmin back, slow as he drags his lips away and hugs Dongmin close. Their heavy breathing quiets together as they hold each other. Dongmin breaks the silence.

“I want you,” he whispers, lips beside Bin’s ear as his hands trail to Bin’s hips. “I’m done dancing around it like some kid. I think I  _ love  _ you, Bin, and I want you.”

Bin swallows, pressing a soft kiss to Dongmin’s ear. “Not now.” 

Dongmin sighs. “And why not?”

Bin laughs softly. “I’m not doing that  _ here _ , Dongmin. Not right now.”

Dongmin nods, pressing his face into Bin’s shoulder. “Can you promise me you won’t disappear before morning?”

“I promise, but we should get back. Before he wakes up and finds us gone.”

Bin holds Dongmin’s hand as they return to the house. Before they’re near the door, though, he knows something is wrong. Light shines out from the windows. Dongmin swears under his breath. The kitchen light has been turned on, and the door to Dongmin and Seunghwan’s room is wide open. Bin slips off his shoes as Dongmin shifts in place.

“Go,” Bin whispers, giving Dongmin a gentle push towards the bedroom. “It’ll be okay.”

Dongmin nods, taking a deep breath. He closes the bedroom door after himself. Bin stands still in the silence that follows for a minute, then two, then three. When he still hears no hint of their voices, he switches off the kitchen light and finds his way back to the couch without tripping over anything. He lays still, heart racing with the memory of Dongmin in his arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Twitter @snibwrites! Also, make sure you check out vonseal's new chapter 16 as well~


	17. Mars

Bin can’t help his smile as he watches Dongmin cook breakfast from his vantage point on the couch. He can let himself think, even if only for a moment, that this is their house. Would waking up beside Dongmin be as great as he thinks? It would be better, Bin decides, eyes tracing Dongmin’s form as he glances over his shoulder to smile at Bin.

 

The bedroom door opens and ruins the moment. Seunghwan emerges, rolling a standard issue Kyklos suitcase behind himself. Bin’s heart sings for a second before his brain beats it down. Seunghwan might have seen them last night. Bin might’ve ruined their relationship.

 

“I’ll be back in a couple days,” Seunghwan says as he steps into the kitchen. “I only wish they didn’t have me leaving so early in the morning so I could stay for breakfast.”

 

Dongmin shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. This is a good opportunity for you. Go, shoo.” Dongmin guides Seunghwan back. “You can’t be late.”

 

Seunghwan pecks Dongmin on the lips, and Bin’s chest tightens. Things are okay between them, then. Bin should be happy, but resentment floods through him. Luckily, Seunghwan leaves before Bin can make a comment he would likely regret. Dongmin returns to preparing breakfast and Bin sits in silence.

 

“He works in the inspection department.”

 

Bin looks at Dongmin, back still facing him. “Seunghwan?”

 

Dongmin nods. “He’s a senior ship inspector. They’ve sent him to the base further South to help with training new employees.”

 

Bin can’t help himself. “A ship inspector. How noble.”

 

Dongmin shoots Bin a glare, but it’s underlined with amusement. “Don’t be rude. Not everybody wants to be a space adventurer.”

 

“I’m far from being an adventurer,” Bin claims, shifting on the couch. The mood in the room has brightened with their conversation.

 

Dongmin sighs, turning off the stove and scooping the food onto two plates. “You’re closer to being an adventurer than a ship inspector. You get to planet hop and experience new things.”

 

Bin pulls his legs to himself, making room on the other end of the couch for Dongmin to sit. “You didn’t make me food, too, did you?”

 

Dongmin shakes his head. “Nope. Both plates are for me. You have to fend for yourself.”

 

Bin smirks as Dongmin hands him a plate. “You wouldn’t let me go hungry, would you?”

 

“Maybe I should.” Dongmin settles into the couch and takes a bite of his food. “You might get lazy if I do things for you.”

 

Bin scoffs. “Cooking one meal for me won’t make me lazy. It’s better than what I probably would’ve eaten for breakfast if left to fend for myself, anyway.”

 

Dongmin eyes him. “Is it that bad out there?”

 

Bin thinks over the question as he eats. He shakes his head. “It’s not bad. The food is just bland, and it’s always the same thing. Some bars, dried fruit, endless amounts of grains. Our ship is older, so it doesn’t have the all the living quarter fittings.”

 

“Will you always have the same ship?”

 

“We’ll have the  _ Ambition  _ for a while.” Bin assumes Jinwoo is working out some way for them to continue to operate as they have. They'll be keeping the  _ Ambition  _ and their crew while also hiding Myungjun on board. That’s their current plan, at least.

 

“Will you always be co-captain?”

 

“I might be.” Bin shrugs. “Or Kyklos could promote me to captain after a while. I won’t be any time soon, though. Jinwoo is captain.” The image of Jinwoo’s stern face appears in his mind’s eye. He should be gathering information. He should be poking at Dongmin to see what he knows. Despite knowing he should, he can’t bring himself to it.

 

“I should get going,” Bin announces, sliding his plate onto the table.

 

“What?” Dongmin sits up as concern grows on his features. “Why?”

 

“Jinwoo needed me to take care of some things on the ship. He, uh, sent a message before you woke up but I didn’t want to leave without talking to you.” The lies are getting too easy.

 

Dongmin frowns. “Can’t someone else take care of it? I was hoping to spend some time with you.”

 

Bin shakes his head and stands quickly. “Responsibilities of second in command.”

 

“Will you come back?” Dongmin sets his plate down and stands. “I mean, you’re not leaving Mars right now, right?”

 

Bin swallows.

 

“Don’t just leave when you have to,” Dongmin begs. “Please come back and say goodbye.”

 

Bin nods. “I will. I just have to take care of some stuff.”

 

Dongmin sighs, looking down at his hands. “Let me get the door.”

 

As Bin walks away from Dongmin’s home, he doesn’t look back. Any longer around Dongmin and he might’ve spilled the secrets of the rebellion. He might’ve shared his feelings or actually have started digging for the answers the rebellion sent him to get. Bin rubs his head in frustration. Keeping his distance will keep Dongmin safe, won’t it?

 

Bin doesn’t realize where he’s going until he arrives. The house he grew up in is set further back off a wide road, like the others on the street, but this house is different. They taped over the West facing window when Bin smashed it two years ago by accidentally throwing a ball at it. His sister’s failed school project has left the yard permanently discolored. that damaged the ground where it had spilled. His father painted half the door red, a renovation project he still hasn't finished. Bin walks up the sloped yard and knocks on the door.

 

His mom’s hair is as messy as it had been when he stopped by yesterday. “Bin? What are you doing back?”

 

He shrugs, wrapping her in a hug. “I have more free time than I thought.”

 

“Well, get in here! Have you had breakfast? Your dad burned the toast again.”

 

The smell of the burnt toast is almost suffocating, filling even the entry room of the house, but it’s familiar. He coughs, groaning. “Way to go, Dad!”

 

“Our favorite space cadet returns!” his dad calls, hidden from Bin’s view but joyful nonetheless.

 

“You’re back again?” Sua’s head pops out from around the corner. “I thought you were leaving today.”

 

Bin shakes his head. “Probably here for at least the rest of today. They can’t send us off without a schedule.”

 

Sua rolls her eyes, disappearing from view.

 

Bin trails after his mom, dragging his hand along the wall all the way. His fingers find the groove in the wall from where their dining table scratched it when they’d first brought it in. The first tile of the kitchen floor is still in pieces from when his uncle tripped and cracked it. Will he ever have a house of his own with years of memories like this one?

 

“You just going to stand there, son?” His dad pulls out one of the dining chairs. “No toast, but we have everything else.”

 

“I already ate, it’s fine.” Bin makes his way to the seat anyway.

 

“Where did you eat? Stop by some cafe on the way?”

 

Bin shakes his head. “A friend’s house. I spent the night and we got to catch up a bit.”

 

“Which friend? It wasn’t Chanwoo, was it?” His mom scowls. “He still hasn’t returned our pot.”

 

The conversation shifts when his sister joins them at the table, but Bin doesn’t mind. He listens to more of their tales from when he was gone. He memorizes the sound of their laughter, the lines by his mom’s eyes and the feeling of his sister’s leg knocking against his under the table as a reprimand for his bad jokes. If anything were to go wrong, he would miss them. Would Kyklos even tell them if something had happened to him? Would they write it off, promise to search for him but never send out the search crew? Bin tries to push the sour thoughts to the back of his head, but he can’t. Only a few hours after arriving, Bin says his goodbyes and walks along the streets he used to race down as a kid.

 

Bin returns to the  _ Ambition  _ as the sun nears the horizon. He spent most of the money he had with him on food and street performers in the plazas. His thoughts weigh on his shoulders as he makes his way up the ladders to shower and don new clothes.

 

Fortunately, their crew members are still enjoying their holiday. Unfortunately, Jinwoo is hard to avoid. Bin finds him and Myungjun on the bridge whispering in low voices, Jinwoo’s arm around Myungjun’s waist.

 

“Good, you’re back.” Jinwoo doesn’t release Myungjun as he speaks to Bin. “We have an issue.”

 

Bin raises a brow. “An issue?”

 

“They want to do a full inspection of the ship tomorrow. Top to bottom, cargo, bridge, living quarters, even the damn  _ pantry _ . I plan on calling someone tonight and asking for help so we can get off Mars.”

 

Bin stares at him. “You mean just leave? Without clearance?”

 

“It’s our only shot. They won’t let us leave without the inspection, and the Syndicate has been too good at clearing out the rebel operatives in the flight towers. There’s only one left, but we can’t get ahold of her. Let me handle this, though.” Jinwoo separates himself from Myungjun, removing his arm in favor of holding his hand. “What have you found out from Dongmin? I assume you’re back because you found something.”

 

Bin shakes his head. “I couldn’t.”

 

Jinwoo stares at him for a moment before furrowing his brows. “You couldn’t or you  _ wouldn’t?” _

 

“Wouldn’t.” Bin sticks his hands in his pockets. “I told you I wouldn’t drag him into it.”

 

“Bin—”

 

“What if it was Myungjun?”

 

Jinwoo glances at Myungjun before looking back at Bin. “What are you talking about?”

 

“What if Myungjun was only associated with something that went wrong? What if you knew he didn’t know anything? Would you still try to force information out of him?”

 

“You don’t know Dongmin doesn’t know anything.”

 

“And you used to preach about limiting connections with people but here we are.” Bin gestures at Myungjun. “Breaking rules because you feel like it’s the right thing to do. You can, but I can’t?”

 

“That’s not what I—”

 

“I’ve heard enough.”

 

Bin ignores Jinwoo calling after him as he leaves the ship and tumbles out into the landing yard. He’ll do what he wants. If he wants to get information out of Dongmin, he could, but he won’t.  He could report Jinwoo for insubordination, too, but he won’t.  _ Friends  _ don’t expect things like that.

 

The closer Bin draws to Dongmin’s house, the slower he walks. He can’t return home. He doesn’t want to spend the night on the  _ Ambition  _ or in the Kyklos off-duty quarters. Bin laughs to himself. Trying to avoid Dongmin won’t do him any good, either.

 

Dongmin is already in his pajamas when he answers the door. Bin forgoes a formal greeting, squeezing Dongmin against himself instead.

 

“Bin?” Dongmin steps into the house far enough to be able to close the door. “What’s gotten into you?”

 

Bin doesn’t say anything because he can’t. He can’t tell Dongmin about the rebellion. He can’t tell Dongmin about Jinwoo disobeying orders. He can’t tell him about almost getting beaten up on Dione Station or their unmarked stop on Hera or stealing a dog on Atlas. He can’t tell him about Director Choi and the bad feeling he’d given everybody on the crew.

 

“Bin, hey.” Dongmin pulls away far enough to look at him, cupping his jaw. “Are you okay?”

 

Bin doesn’t want to think about anything other than Dongmin. “Kiss me,” he mutters.

 

Dongmin stares at him. “What?”

 

“Kiss me,” Bin says, louder this time.

 

Dongmin presses their lips together as his arms wrap around Bin’s shoulders. They stumble their way to the couch, Dongmin straddling Bin’s lap as they cling to one another. His hands skim Dongmin’s chest, exploring his body in ways he never had the chance to before. Their clothes fall to the floor and leave nothing left between them as they embrace, Bin’s face hidden in Dongmin’s shoulder as they move.

 

“Bin,” Dongmin gasps, clinging to him. “I missed you.”

 

Bin kisses Dongmin’s collarbone with a smile on his lips. “I’m right here.”

 

* * *

 

 

Bin isn’t sure what wakes him. He squints at the room, squeezing the body in his arms closer to his chest. Dongmin stirs, groaning as he wakes up. He rubs Bin’s back before pushing himself into a half sitting position.

“This is why I’ve never slept on this couch,” Dongmin says with a groan, holding his side. “Are you okay?”

Bin nods. Dongmin’s hair is sticking out on one side, flat on the other. His lips are swollen, and the mark on his upper chest is dark purple now instead of a deep red.

“You’re beautiful,” Bin states.

Dongmin blinks at him before smiling. “Shut up.”

Bin sits up, looping his arm over Dongmin’s hips. “I mean it.”

Dongmin rolls his eyes. “Okay, Mr. Romantic. I need the bathroom.” Dongmin presses a kiss on his cheek before grabbing his discarded shirt and leaving.

Bin doesn’t wallow in the loss of warmth. He slides his pants and shirt back on, trying to rub out the wrinkles in the latter as he scoops up his watch. The notification must’ve been what woke him up. Blinking hard to clear his blurry vision, Bin sits back down and swipes to open the notification.

A single letter from Minhyuk.  _ E.  _ Evacuate.

“Vacation’s over,” Bin mumbles. He finds his socks under the couch and slips on his boots. Dongmin rejoins him in the room as he pulls on his jacket.

“You’re going.” There’s no sadness in Dongmin’s voice.

“I have to.” Bin holds out his arms. “Come ‘ere.”

Dongmin shuffles to him, immediately wrapping his arms around Bin’s waist. Bin squeezes him and his watch dings again. The single letter comes from Jinwoo this time.

“Promise me I’ll see you again,” Dongmin says against his shoulder. “You can’t leave me behind here.”

“Dongmin—”

He pulls back, staring at Bin. “I mean it, Bin. You  _ can’t  _ leave me here. Not after—” He blushes, averting his eyes for a moment. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Bin kisses Dongmin and his watch beeps once more. “I won’t be. We’ll see each other again, okay? I promise.”

“You know I hate people who can’t keep their promises.” Dongmin releases him from his hug, leading him to the door.

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Bin holds Dongmin’s face, kissing him again. “I’ll miss you.”

“Just go.” Dongmin smiles, pushing Bin towards the door. “Go be a space adventurer.”

“I’m not—”

“Shoo!” Dongmin laughs, swinging the door open for him. “Don’t keep your crew waiting.”

Bin hasn’t run so fast since their near capture on Charon. He almost falls twice when ascending the ladder to the second level of their ship. Jinwoo, Myungjun, Sanha, and Minhyuk are the only ones on the bridge. There’s no time for explanations as Jinwoo orders him to strap in. He did as told, gripping the straps as Sanha drives the  _ Ambition  _ through the sky and into space. Nobody says so much as a single word until Sanha gives the all clear.

“Reject all incoming communications,” Jinwoo tells Sanha immediately. “Put us in EHT. Head to the stargate.”

“The stargate? Jinwoo, are you sure that’s—”

“Now.” Jinwoo unstraps. “Bin, since you missed it, I called in some favors. The rebels released part of the footage we got on Atlas to serve as a distraction.”

Bin’s brows shoot upwards. “ _ That _ was your great idea?”

Jinwoo sighs. “That’s not what matters now. We should be out of Mars’ airspace in a few minutes so they won’t be able to track us as long as we stay away from the satellites. Sanha?”

“On it.”

“Minhyuk, with me. We’re shutting down all non-essential systems.”

Bin stands in shock for several seconds. They left Mars without authorization. They didn’t have clearance to take flight.

Myungjun pats Bin’s shoulder. “Welcome to the life of being a fugitive.”


	18. Solar System

Sanha locks his eyes on one star. Even at their speeds, the universe seems impossibly large. Nothing moves drastically, the pinpoints of light stuck in place. Though the collection of stars looks different from seeing them on Titan, Sanha can still point out constellations. He won’t get to share the experience with his family anymore, but at least he knows they’ll be looking at the same stars.

 

“—to Helen? The security there used to suck, sure, but who can say it’s not different now?”

 

Sanha swivels in his pilot chair, watching his crew members pile onto the bridge. Jinwoo leads them, his shoulders strong and his jaw tense. Myungjun is close behind him. Sanha is adjusting to the sight of Myungjun on board. He’d seen him in CTL a few times and had heard stories about him from both Jinwoo and Minhyuk, but being face to face with him is different.

 

Jinwoo turns to look at Bin. “Until we have further instructions from the rebels, we’re on our own. We can do whatever we want and if Myungjun wants to take his parents off that awful planet, who are we to stop him?”

 

Are they going to Helen? Sanha glances at their radar. They still have two days until they reach the stargate.

 

“I’m surprised you don’t want to do the same for your parents, Minhyuk.”

 

Sanha turns his attention back to the conversation. Even Sanha can pick up on the tension in the room—Bin and Minhyuk stand opposite Jinwoo and Myungjun like the leaders of two sides of a war come to negotiate. Sanha could be their officiate. He could be the referee.

 

“Maybe Bin has a point,” Sanha says, rising from his chair. Jinwoo looks at him as if he hadn’t realized he was there before. “If we don’t have any orders, shouldn’t we stick to protocol and wait until we have orders? We would’ve done that if we stayed on Mars.”

 

Minhyuk catches his eye, smiling at him a little. Is he relieved?

 

Jinwoo seems to think through several outcomes before he looks at Sanha. “How long until we’re at the stargate?”

 

“About a day, give or take. If the  _ Ambition  _ holds the current speed, it’ll be 50 hours.”

 

“But speeds fluctuate.” Jinwoo sighs, rubbing his head . “What about EHT?”

 

“Not a good idea.”

 

Jinwoo clenches his jaw. “Why not?”

 

“EHT travel makes us easier to track because we have to fly in a straight line. I have us on a varying course right now to keep us out of satellite airspace.” Sanha wrings his hands. “EHT also uses more fuel.”

 

Jinwoo pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Could we make it to Helen?”

 

Sanha goes back to his chair and displays the fuel gauges. “50 hours to the stargate,” he mumbles to himself. “Another 60 from the Gliese stargate to Helen.” Sanha turns in his chair. “We could make it if we took a straight path, but we’d risk detection.”

 

They’re all stressed. Sanha hasn’t seen their team this stressed during their four months in space. Myungjun rubs Jinwoo’s back and says something too quiet for Sanha to pick up on. Jinwoo shakes his head.

 

Sanha didn’t sign up to be a fugitive. Sanha signed up to deliver cargo to people and to experience new worlds. He signed up for adventure and bad food and nights spent sleeping surrounded by stars. Jinwoo, Bin, and Minhyuk had been eager to bring him into the fold and explain the truth to him. Would they have let him get away with the knowledge without taking the oath binding him to the rebellion? Sanha had made a stupid mistake. He never wanted to become a fugitive.

 

“Can’t you see you’re being ridiculous?” Bin snaps. “You’re crunching numbers and debating putting us in place for detection by Kyklos units just to go to Helen. Park us in neutral airspace until we can get ahold of the rebels.”

 

“I’m not only a captain, Bin.” Jinwoo stares him down. “I have a responsibility to keep everybody happy, not just you and Minhyuk.”

 

“Myungjun isn’t even  _ part  _ of our team. The rebels only got us out of there because they sent me to get information out of Dongmin.”

 

“And you don’t because you’re blinded by your feelings for him.”

 

Bin scoffs. “ _ I’m  _ blinded? Take a look in the mirror, would you?”

 

Sanha bites his bottom lip. “Guys—”

 

“I already put myself on the line for you!” Jinwoo pokes a finger into Bin’s chest. “You’re the one who screwed up on Atlas. The rebels I met up with on Theseus when I handed over the Cho recording wanted me to hand you over, too.”

 

Bin is quiet for only a second. “What?”

 

“You screwed up with Cho and now you’ve screwed up with Dongmin. They’ll get their hands on him one way or another, and when they do, it won’t be as nice as you would’ve been.”

 

Sanha stands. “Guys—”

 

“I won’t let them get to Dongmin.”

 

“How? You’re a day away from Mars already. They could’ve gotten to him by now for all you know.”

 

“Hey!” The four of them look at Sanha sharply, and he takes a deep breath. “Did you forget that we’re a team?”

 

“Some team,” Bin mutters.

 

Sanha ignores his comment. “We’re supposed to talk things out and compromise. I’ll keep us in the system until we can find out what the rebels want from us. If they don’t want anything, then we can go to Helen. If they want something, we do that first and then we’ll go to Helen. Okay?”

 

Jinwoo sighs. “I’ll make some calls.” Myungjun follows him out of the room, and Bin leaves shortly after.

 

Sanha closes the distance between himself and Minhyuk. “Are you okay? You’ve been quiet.”

 

“What? Oh, yeah.” Minhyuk nods. “I’m good.”

 

Sanha doesn’t want to pry. If Minhyuk wants to tell him something, he will. Prying wouldn’t get him any information, anyway.

 

“I have a surprise for you.” Sanha grabs Minhyuk’s hand, tugging him out of the bridge.

 

“A surprise— Sanha, what are you—”

 

“Just be patient,” Sanha laughs. He points at the ladder. “Up.”

 

“Sanha—”

 

“Minhyuk.” Sanha grins. “Just trust me.”

 

Minhyuk’s resolve breaks before Sanha’s eyes. He cracks a smile, nodding. “Okay, fine. It better not be stupid.”

 

Sanha follows Minhyuk to the next level and links their fingers again. The simple contact makes Sanha’s blood race into his cheeks, but he ignores it in favor of focusing on his quest. He pulls Minhyuk along to the room they share with Bin (formally the “secondary crew quarters”).

 

“Sit.” Sanha points at Minhyuk’s bed before going to his own. He squats, reaching around underneath it.

 

Minhyuk does as told. “What are you doing, Sanha? What is all this?”

 

“Be patient,” Sanha laughs. “You’re worse than a little kid.”

 

Minhyuk frowns. “I am not.”

 

“You are.” Sanha’s fingers brush the bag and he gasps. “There it is!” He hides the bag from Minhyuk’s view, sitting beside him on the bed.

 

“Will you tell me what this is about now?”

 

Sanha shakes his head. “Close your eyes and hold out your hand.”

 

Minhyuk stares at him. “You must think I’m dumb. I’m not falling for that trick.”

 

Sanha sighs. He pulls Minhyuk’s hand to a reasonable level with the palm facing up. “Now close your eyes and no peeking.”

 

“You better not put something weird in my hand, Sanha. I swear I’ll hit you.” Minhyuk closes his eyes, opening them again quickly. “I mean it! No pranks—”

 

Sanha laughs, covering Minhyuk’s eyes with his own hand. “No looking! It’s a good surprise, I promise.”

 

Minhyuk sighs in defeat, and Sanha pulls his hand away slowly. Minhyuk has closed his eyes. Sanha hesitates for a moment, letting himself look at Minhyuk. His lips are plump and his nose is cute. How can a nose be cute?

 

“Sanha?”

 

“R-right!” Sanha untwists the bag. “Sorry. I was thinking.”

 

“Don’t think too hard or you’ll hurt yourself.” Minhyuk grins.

 

Sanha whines. “Don’t make fun of me.”

 

“Sorry, sorry. I won’t do it anymore.” Minhyuk closes and opens his hand. “Where is it?”

 

Sanha bites back a smile as he pulls a caramel wedge out of the bag and places it in Minhyuk’s palm. “Okay, you can look.”

 

Minhyuk holds his hand out further as he opens his eyes. His brows furrow before recognition blossoms on his face. “A caramel wedge? We got these like a month ago.”

 

“They stay fresh for a long time.” Sanha tosses one in his mouth. “They’re my dad’s favorite, so me, my mom, and my brothers made them as a celebration when he came back from the far side of Titan, but we always made too many. They were still good months later.”

 

Minhyuk takes a bite out of the caramel wedge tentatively. Having decided it’s still good, he puts the rest in his mouth.

 

They sit quietly as they feast on the candy. It’s a comfortable quiet, Minhyuk’s knee pressed into Sanha’s thigh. Would things continue to be like this?  _ The life of a fugitive is hardly one of romance _ , the voice in Sanha’s head helpfully supplies as he watches Minhyuk staring across the room. Maybe Sanha doesn’t need romance. If he can keep Minhyuk by his side, he’ll be happy. If their crew can stick together, everything will be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, the end of part 1! Part 2 is already under way, so keep an eye out for it~ You can also catch me @snibwrites on Twitter where I post spoilers!


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